Jaime Diaz, Straw Purchasing Firearms, Connecticut 2022

A Hartford man has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for his involvement in straw purchasing firearms, selling them to others in exchange for cash and narcotics.

Jaime Diaz, 30, of Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, between August 2020 and November 2021, Diaz purchased approximately 17 handguns from two Connecticut firearm dealers, including one that he sold back to the dealer and another that was recovered by the Hartford Police Department from an individual charged with drug trafficking.

At the time of the purchases, Diaz was an unlawful user of controlled substances. The remaining 14 firearms have not been recovered.

Diaz pleaded guilty on September 7, 2022, to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and one count of dealing in firearms without a license.

The matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Reed Durham through Project Safe Neighborhoods, the centerpiece of the government's violent crime reduction efforts.

Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through this program, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/hartford-man-sentenced-prison-straw-purchasing-firearms