Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROHAN A. JAMES-DENNIE, JR., 22, of West Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing firearms.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on Nov. 1, 2015, a Connecticut State Trooper stopped a vehicle that JAMES-DENNIE was operating erratically in Essex. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a.380 caliber handgun with a hollow point bullet in the magazine of the weapon, approximately one-half kilogram of marijuana and more than $3,400 in cash. The firearm had been reported stolen during a residential burglary in 2013.
On Jan. 12, 2016, West Haven Police stopped a vehicle that JAMES-DENNIE was operating. A search of the vehicle and JAMES-DENNIE’s person revealed a.22 caliber handgun loaded with six rounds of ammunition, more than 200 grams of marijuana and nearly $5,000 in cash. The firearm’s serial number was partially obliterated.
JAMES-DENNIE was arrested on state charges in both of these instances and was released on bond.
On July 7, 2016, the Connecticut Intelligence Center (CTIC) issued a statewide “Officer Safety" notification regarding JAMES-DENNIE after a post on JAMES-DENNIE’s Facebook page included “We need to just start shooting cops RS that’s the only way…100100."
JAMES-DENNIE was arrested the following day in East Haven on a federal criminal complaint charging him firearm and drug offenses. At the time of his arrest, he had $3,500 in cash and three grams of marijuana in his pocket. A search of an apartment connected to JAMES-DENNIE revealed an additional 17 grams of marijuana and a laser attachment for a gun.
JAMES-DENNIE has been detained since his federal arrest. On Oct. 11, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance.
This matter was investigated by the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets Task Force, Connecticut State Police, West Haven Police Department and East Haven Police Department. The FBI Task Force includes participants from the New Haven, Hamden and Milford Police Departments, the Connecticut State Police and the State of Connecticut Department of Correction.
U.S. Attorney Daly thanked the assistance and cooperation of the State’s Attorneys for the Judicial District of Middlesex and the Judicial District of Ansonia/Milford.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Lee Dayton.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
