July 11, 2014

Bridgeport Man Sentenced to 70 Months in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Loaded Firearm

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that FEDERICO CANNON, also known as “Rico,” 31, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 70 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. On May 22, 2013, a jury found CANNON guilty of one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a previously convicted felon.

According to the trial evidence, at approximately 1:15 a.m. on February 25, 2012, Bridgeport Police stopped a vehicle in which CANNON was a passenger on Caroline Street in Bridgeport. CANNON initially exited the vehicle and attempted to walk away, but police ordered him back into the car. After directing the driver out of the vehicle, a Bridgeport Police detective observed a semi-automatic pistol on the floor of the rear passenger area in the vicinity of where CANNON was sitting. The firearm was a Smith & Wesson 9mm model 469, loaded with 10 live hollow-point cartridges and two full-metal jacket cartridges.

Prior to February 25, 2012, CANNON had sustained felony drug, firearms and burglary convictions, including a 2006 federal conviction for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a previously convicted felon.

The evidence at trial in the previous federal case revealed that in the early morning hours of October 21, 2004, CANNON was in a car with three other individuals driving northbound on Interstate 95 between Norwalk and Bridgeport when they initiated a confrontation with another car occupied by two men. The confrontation culminated at the bottom of the Exit 25 ramp in Bridgeport when approximately seven or eight shots were fired at the victims’ vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle in which CANNON was a passenger revealed a semi-automatic pistol at CANNON’s feet in the right rear passenger seat of the vehicle. The jury found CANNON guilty and, on April 12, 2006, he was sentenced to 42 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the Bridgeport Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.