Juan Quinones Gets 37 Months for Gun, Drug Bust in Stamford

A loaded Glock .45 caliber pistol, heroin, crack cocaine, and a convicted felon—this was the deadly combo police uncovered when they raided a hotel room in Stamford on September 24, 2015. At the center of it all: Juan Quinones, 43, of Port Chester, N.Y., who was sentenced today to 37 months in federal prison for illegally possessing the firearm.

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea handed down the sentence in Hartford, ordering Quinones to serve 37 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release. The takedown unfolded when Stamford Police executed a court-authorized search of the hotel room where Quinones was staying. Inside, they found not only the loaded weapon but also distribution quantities of heroin and crack cocaine.

Quinones didn’t just break drug laws—he violated a core tenet of federal firearms restrictions. Having previously been convicted of felony drug offenses, it is illegal under federal statute for him to possess any firearm or ammunition that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce. That prior record turned a possession charge into a federal crime with serious prison time.

Arrested at the scene, Quinones has been in custody since that September 2015 raid. Nearly a year later, on September 8, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. No deal was cut for the drugs found—federal prosecutors focused on the gun, knowing the conviction was all but guaranteed.

The investigation was a joint effort between the Stamford Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), agencies that continue to target armed offenders in high-crime zones across Connecticut. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito, who emphasized the danger posed by felons with access to weapons.

Today’s sentence underscores the federal crackdown on repeat offenders wielding firearms. Quinones now heads to a federal pen—37 months to think about the consequences of bringing a loaded Glock into a drug-fueled hotel room. The streets of Stamford are one armed felon quieter.