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New London — For one young man last spring, buying a . 357-caliber revolver in New London took just one phone call.
The would-be gun owner placed the call to a man he knew as “Low.” Then he drove to the area of Belden and Blackhall streets and picked up “Low,” a 27-year-old city resident whose real name is Kevin Shan, police said.
They went to Shan's apartment at 49 Connecticut Ave. The purchaser gave Shan $500 and walked away with a Smith & Wesson revolver, according to police.
Unfortunately for Shan, the man who bought the gun was a so-called “confidential informant” for the government who delivered the weapon directly into the hands of law enforcement authorities. Shan was charged earlier this month with illegal transfer of a pistol/revolver.
As part of an ongoing effort to take guns out of the hands of those who do not own them legally or use them judiciously, city police have been working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecutors in New London Superior Court. The joint effort began a few years ago when the level of street violence involving drugs and guns escalated.
Shan was targeted after the confidential informant told authorities Shan had three guns and was selling crack cocaine out of his residence.
When the informant called Shan about purchasing the revolver on May 14, the ATF was listening in. The informant drove to Shan's house in an ATF vehicle. The car was equipped with audio and video equipment and the informant was wired as well. The cash he used to purchase the gun came from the ATF.
Officers were watching as the informant went into Shan's apartment, and they saw him come out about four minutes later, according to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by New London police Officer Brian Laurie. They followed the informant to a pre-arranged location and searched him. He told them the revolver was under an armrest in the front seat of the ATF vehicle. He said no paperwork was done on the transfer.
The history of the .357-caliber revolver remains uncertain. It was one of five handguns registered to a Waterford resident, but it had not been reported stolen.
Guns come from a number of sources, police and prosecutors said.
“They're coming in from all points,” prosecutor Michael Kennedy said. “The problem is that they're so omnipresent there is no one source.”
When a gun is seized as part of a crime, its history is traced through its serial number. Some guns are stolen, but others find their way to the streets through so-called “straw purchases.”
“People with a pistol permit will buy them legitimately and sell them to drug dealers,” said Capt. William D. Dittman of the New London police. Sometimes the handguns come from southern states, where they can be purchased over the counter, he said.
“It's usually anything they can get their hands on,” he said. A .22-caliber handgun can be had for $50 to $100, and somebody could spend as much as $900 or $1,000 for a .9 mm or .40-caliber pistol, Dittman said.
State laws carry mandatory minimum prison sentences for many gun offenses, and Kennedy said the state is less likely to plea bargain in these cases.
“We're less and less inclined to do that now because of the violence,” he said.
Shan, who also has pending narcotics and criminal impersonation cases in New London Superior Court, is being held on bonds totaling $210,000. Defense attorney Jason Westcott argued for a lower bond of $50,000 last week, saying that Shan, whose most recent address was 103 Colman St., is a father of two with strong local ties and that the case against him has holes. Prosecutor Paul Narducci said the state has the sale on videotape and alleged that Shan also sold a rifle to the confidential informant.
Long guns, because they are more difficult to conceal, are used less frequently in street crimes, but they, too, can be sold on the street. A couple of weeks before he sold the revolver to the confidential informant, Shan also sold the man a .223-caliber rifle and a few grams of cocaine for $1,700, according to police. The man went to Shan's residence and walked out with a Bushmaster Model XM15, the same type of gun that killed 10 people and injured three more in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper case in 2002.
The man told Shan he was buying the rifle for a friend, and Shan allegedly asked if they could rob the friend later. The man said no. Shan is not charged with the rifle sale because the law only applies to the illegal transfer of pistols.
On Thursday, as several of Shan's relatives sat in the court gallery, Judge Susan B. Handy, whose feelings about gun violence are well-known in New London Superior Court, refused to lower his bond.
“This isn't even a case about the defendant possessing a gun,” she said. “It's a case about him selling a gun. No one who sells guns is going to have a $50,000 bond.”
Shan is being held at the Corrigan Correctional Institution, and his next court date is Sept. 13. Since the local authorities have been working with the federal government, two New London prosecutors, Narducci and Kennedy, have been “cross-deputized” as federal prosecutors for cases that are tried in U.S. District Court. In some cases, the federal penalties involving gun crimes are stiffer.
“We try to find the bad guys, and then we worry after the fact about whether we are going to prosecute them in state or federal court,” U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor said.
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=1b77869a-ed70-4240-92f0-5b7a75a3260f
The would-be gun owner placed the call to a man he knew as “Low.” Then he drove to the area of Belden and Blackhall streets and picked up “Low,” a 27-year-old city resident whose real name is Kevin Shan, police said.
They went to Shan's apartment at 49 Connecticut Ave. The purchaser gave Shan $500 and walked away with a Smith & Wesson revolver, according to police.
Unfortunately for Shan, the man who bought the gun was a so-called “confidential informant” for the government who delivered the weapon directly into the hands of law enforcement authorities. Shan was charged earlier this month with illegal transfer of a pistol/revolver.
As part of an ongoing effort to take guns out of the hands of those who do not own them legally or use them judiciously, city police have been working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecutors in New London Superior Court. The joint effort began a few years ago when the level of street violence involving drugs and guns escalated.
Shan was targeted after the confidential informant told authorities Shan had three guns and was selling crack cocaine out of his residence.
When the informant called Shan about purchasing the revolver on May 14, the ATF was listening in. The informant drove to Shan's house in an ATF vehicle. The car was equipped with audio and video equipment and the informant was wired as well. The cash he used to purchase the gun came from the ATF.
Officers were watching as the informant went into Shan's apartment, and they saw him come out about four minutes later, according to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by New London police Officer Brian Laurie. They followed the informant to a pre-arranged location and searched him. He told them the revolver was under an armrest in the front seat of the ATF vehicle. He said no paperwork was done on the transfer.
The history of the .357-caliber revolver remains uncertain. It was one of five handguns registered to a Waterford resident, but it had not been reported stolen.
Guns come from a number of sources, police and prosecutors said.
“They're coming in from all points,” prosecutor Michael Kennedy said. “The problem is that they're so omnipresent there is no one source.”
When a gun is seized as part of a crime, its history is traced through its serial number. Some guns are stolen, but others find their way to the streets through so-called “straw purchases.”
“People with a pistol permit will buy them legitimately and sell them to drug dealers,” said Capt. William D. Dittman of the New London police. Sometimes the handguns come from southern states, where they can be purchased over the counter, he said.
“It's usually anything they can get their hands on,” he said. A .22-caliber handgun can be had for $50 to $100, and somebody could spend as much as $900 or $1,000 for a .9 mm or .40-caliber pistol, Dittman said.
State laws carry mandatory minimum prison sentences for many gun offenses, and Kennedy said the state is less likely to plea bargain in these cases.
“We're less and less inclined to do that now because of the violence,” he said.
Shan, who also has pending narcotics and criminal impersonation cases in New London Superior Court, is being held on bonds totaling $210,000. Defense attorney Jason Westcott argued for a lower bond of $50,000 last week, saying that Shan, whose most recent address was 103 Colman St., is a father of two with strong local ties and that the case against him has holes. Prosecutor Paul Narducci said the state has the sale on videotape and alleged that Shan also sold a rifle to the confidential informant.
Long guns, because they are more difficult to conceal, are used less frequently in street crimes, but they, too, can be sold on the street. A couple of weeks before he sold the revolver to the confidential informant, Shan also sold the man a .223-caliber rifle and a few grams of cocaine for $1,700, according to police. The man went to Shan's residence and walked out with a Bushmaster Model XM15, the same type of gun that killed 10 people and injured three more in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper case in 2002.
The man told Shan he was buying the rifle for a friend, and Shan allegedly asked if they could rob the friend later. The man said no. Shan is not charged with the rifle sale because the law only applies to the illegal transfer of pistols.
On Thursday, as several of Shan's relatives sat in the court gallery, Judge Susan B. Handy, whose feelings about gun violence are well-known in New London Superior Court, refused to lower his bond.
“This isn't even a case about the defendant possessing a gun,” she said. “It's a case about him selling a gun. No one who sells guns is going to have a $50,000 bond.”
Shan is being held at the Corrigan Correctional Institution, and his next court date is Sept. 13. Since the local authorities have been working with the federal government, two New London prosecutors, Narducci and Kennedy, have been “cross-deputized” as federal prosecutors for cases that are tried in U.S. District Court. In some cases, the federal penalties involving gun crimes are stiffer.
“We try to find the bad guys, and then we worry after the fact about whether we are going to prosecute them in state or federal court,” U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor said.
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=1b77869a-ed70-4240-92f0-5b7a75a3260f
