Stephen Goins Sentenced to 37 Months for Firearm Possession

Stephen Goins, 36, of Waterbury, is headed to federal prison for 37 months after being caught with a loaded .38 caliber revolver — a crime made worse by his violent criminal past. U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden handed down the sentence in Bridgeport, slamming Goins for flouting federal law as a convicted felon armed and on the move.

The arrest unfolded on June 26, 2014, when law enforcement got a tip that Goins was driving a vehicle with a firearm stashed in the glove compartment. Minutes after exiting I-95 in Bridgeport, the car was pulled over. A search confirmed the worst: a loaded Ruger LCR Revolver, ready to fire. Goins was cuffed on the spot and has remained behind bars ever since.

Court records lay bare a pattern of criminal behavior. Goins has prior felony convictions for robbery, larceny, and marijuana trafficking — offenses that strip him of any legal right to possess a firearm. Federal law is clear: once a violent felon, always barred from owning guns that have traveled in interstate or foreign commerce. He violated that law the moment he touched that revolver.

On May 6, 2016, Goins pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. No trial, no excuses — just a quiet admission of guilt after nearly two years in custody. The three-year supervised release tacked onto his sentence means federal eyes will be on him the second he walks out of prison.

The case was a joint hammer blow from multiple agencies: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Bridgeport Police Department, New Britain Police Department, and the Connecticut Statewide Narcotics Task Force. Their collaboration turned a tip into a conviction, removing a loaded weapon from the streets and a repeat offender from circulation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale prosecuted the case for the government. Deirdre M. Daly, then-U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, confirmed the sentencing, underscoring the feds’ zero-tolerance stance on felons armed with firearms. For Goins, the price of that loaded glove compartment is 37 months in federal lockup — time served for playing with fire.