Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ERNIE NEGRONI, also known as “Omega” and “King Omega,” 33, a former resident of Mansfield, Ohio, and Connecticut, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking firearms.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on June 13, 2013, NEGRONI sold two firearms for $900 to an individual working with law enforcement. The sale occurred in an apartment on Franklin Avenue in Hartford. During the sale, the individual who purchased the firearms observed a suitcase with numerous other firearms and a backpack containing ammunition. NEGRONI also told the individual that he would be returning to Ohio in the near future to obtain more guns.

In the early morning hours of June 14, 2013, law enforcement officers executed a state search warrant at the apartment and seized nine handguns, a sawed-off shotgun and several hundred rounds of ammunition. NEGRONI was arrested on federal firearm charges at that time.

NEGRONI is believed to have acquired the firearms at gun shows operating in Ohio and surrounding states.

NEGRONI, an admitted member of the Almighty Latin King Nation, has a criminal history that includes multiple felony drug convictions. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

NEGRONI has been detained since his arrest on June 14, 2013. On February 3, 2014, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon.

This matter was investigated by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force, the Connecticut State Police, the Hartford Police Department, and the Connecticut Department of Correction. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Leaming.