BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Southington man pleaded guilty in a federal court in Bridgeport Tuesday to selling homemade guns, ammunition, and drugs, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Prosecutors say Bryan Joyce, 38, sold privately made AR-15-style firearms, ammunition, and large amounts of marijuana.
According to court documents and statements made in court, the Connecticut State Police were informed in January 2022 that Joyce was offering to sell assault weapons and other firearms, including privately manufactured firearms, or “ghost guns.” State police also learned he was selling ammunition and firearm accessories.
Joyce sold a privately made AR-15 style rifle to an undercover law officer on Jan. 28, 2022, as well as a privately made 9mm handgun and a box of ammunition, for $2,000. On March 4, 2022, he sold the same undercover officer two loaded AR-15-style rifles and around 400 grams of marijuana for $5,800, prosecutors say.
On March 21, 2022, Joyce was arrested at a Waterbury parking lot where he met the undercover officer, who had arranged to buy five more privately made AR-15-style rifles and a kilogram of marijuana. Prosecutors say that a search of Joyce’s vehicle revealed the five guns, the marijuana, and numerous rounds of ammunition.
A search of Joyce’s Wolcott residence discovered six privately made AR-15-style rifles, two privately made 9mm semiautomatic handguns, a loaded Remington 12-guage shotgun, a Glock .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun, a Glock 9mm semiautomatic handgun stamped “San Antonio Police Department,” multiple firearm parts and accessories, equipment used to make guns and $7,129 in cash.
According to prosecutors, Joyce was already a felon with state convictions for drug, larceny, and burglary offenses, so he violated federal law by possessing guns and ammunition that moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
Joyce pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license, which could send him to jail for up to five years. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon, which carries up to 10 years imprisonment on each count, prosecutors say.
Additionally, prosecutors report that Joyce pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, which holds a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
Joyce is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 6, 2025. He had been released on bond but was detained in April after being arrested for an alleged incident of domestic violence.
Investigators note that Gregory Leary was Joyce’s gun supplier. On June 13, 2023, Leary pleaded guilty and admitted to manufacturing and selling more than 25 guns to Joyce, prosecutors say, adding that he was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment on Nov. 7, 2023.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Connecticut State Police Statewide Firearms Trafficking Task Force, and Statewide Urban Violence Cooperative Crime Control Task Force. They were assisted by the Statewide Narcotics Task Force Southwest and North Central Offices, and the Bridgeport, Shelton, Orange, Waterbury, and Hartford Police Departments.
The case is being prosecuted through Project Safe Neighborhoods, which aims to unite all levels of law enforcement with the communities they serve to curb gun violence and other violent crime, making neighborhoods safer for everyone.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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