Jacquerie Labronze Gibson, aka Compton, 44, of Hartford, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to 144 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking firearms and crack cocaine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in August 2021, law enforcement received information that Gibson was trafficking firearms that had been purchased by Jacintre Holley and others on Holley’s behalf in North Carolina; was distributing narcotics, which he sometimes traded for firearms; and was converting cocaine to crack cocaine at his Wethersfield Avenue apartment in Hartford.
On August 12, 2021, investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant at Gibson’s residence and seized a loaded Taurus Model G3 9mm handgun, additional ammunition, a bulletproof vest, approximately 90 grams of crack cocaine, various items used to process and package narcotics, and $860 in cash. Gibson was in the apartment at the time of the search and was arrested.
The investigation revealed that Gibson’s firearm source in North Carolina had sold approximately 15 firearms to Gibson and approximately 50 firearms to another buyer in Connecticut.
To date, at least 16 of these trafficked firearms have been recovered from crime scenes in and around Connecticut, including one that was used in a homicide in Middletown on May 16, 2021.
Gibson’s criminal history includes felony convictions for drug, burglary, and failure to appear offences, and a conviction in April 2005 for assault in the first degree stemming from a knife attack of his then-girlfriend.
It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offence to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
Gibson has been detained since his arrest. On August 31, 2023, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack”), and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
On February 23, 2023, Holley was sentenced in the Eastern District of North Carolina to 127 months of imprisonment.
