A state man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for trafficking firearms into Connecticut from North Carolina and distributing crack cocaine.
Jacquerie Labronze Gibson, also known as “Compton,” 44, of Hartford was sentenced in federal court in Hartford on Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. He also was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following the prison term.
According to federal officials, law enforcement in August 2021 began investigating Gibson after receiving information suggesting he was trafficking firearms that had been purchased by Jacintre Holley and others on Holley’s behalf in North Carolina. Authorities said they also received information indicating Gibson was distributing narcotics, which he sometimes traded for firearms, and was converting cocaine to crack cocaine at his Wethersfield Avenue apartment.
On Aug. 12, 2021, authorities used a search warrant to raid Gibson’s apartment and seized a loaded Taurus Model G3 9mm handgun, ammunition, a bullet-proof vest, about 90 grams of crack cocaine, items used to process and package narcotics and $860, according to federal officials. Gibson was in the apartment at the time of the search and was arrested.
According to authorities, an investigation later determined that Gibson’s firearm source in North Carolina had sold about 15 firearms to Gibson and about 50 firearms to another buyer in Connecticut. Officials said at least 16 of these weapons have been recovered from crime scenes in Connecticut and surrounding states, including one that was used in a homicide in Middletown in May 2021.
Authorities noted that Gibson’s previous criminal history includes felony convictions for drug, burglary and failure to appear offenses. He was also convicted in April 2005 of first-degree assault for attacking his then-girlfriend with a knife.
“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,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a statement.
Gibson has been in custody since his arrest. His sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty in August 2023 to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, or “crack”, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
In February 2023, Holley also was sentenced in the Eastern District of North Carolina to 127 months in prison, officials said.