Bridgeport Man Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Illegal Gun Possession

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERT BOWENS, 34, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 76 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 22, 2017, Connecticut State Police stopped a vehicle BOWENS was operating on I-95 in Bridgeport.  BOWENS attempted to flee and, during a struggle with troopers, produced a 9mm handgun.  Troopers knocked the firearm from BOWENS’ hand, but BOWENS broke free, jumped into an SUV that had arrived at the scene, and the vehicle fled.  BOWENS was apprehended on May 9.

BOWENS’ criminal history includes state felony convictions for possession with intent to sell, criminal possession of a weapon, and forgery.  He also has a prior federal conviction for possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, for which he was sentenced, in May 2009, to 57 months of imprisonment.

BOWENS has been detained since his arrest.  On November 6, 2017, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss.