A Kansas man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in trafficking firearms into Connecticut. Brian Baker, 48, of Scott City, Kansas, received a sentence of 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release from U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven.
According to court documents and statements made during the proceedings, members of the FBI Waterbury Safe Streets Task Force conducted several controlled purchases from Luis Perez in Waterbury in May 2023. The investigation found that Perez acquired numerous firearms through Baker’s direction. Individuals in Kansas purchased the guns from licensed dealers and shipped them by mail to Hartford, where Perez’s associate Algelly Diaz maintained a stash location. The firearms, including assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, were then sold throughout Connecticut.
Perez coordinated these firearm purchases with Baker in Kansas and Fernando Soto Jr. in California. As a convicted felon with an extensive criminal record, Baker used straw purchasers to buy firearms before shipping them to Connecticut or to Soto for further distribution.
Between August 2020 and May 2023, one straw purchaser, Ramon Pichardo, bought at least 73 firearms from a licensed dealer in Deerfield, Kansas.
Baker and others involved were arrested on May 19, 2023. Law enforcement executed search warrants at locations across Connecticut, Kansas, and California. Searches uncovered nine firearms; over 200 rounds of ammunition; quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl/heroin; packaging materials for narcotics; and more than $7,000 cash at Perez’s residence and vehicle. Diaz’s home contained about 90 rounds of ammunition, while a seized package destined for Diaz held three additional firearms.
So far, law enforcement has recovered approximately 34 trafficked firearms in Connecticut and other states. One firearm was recovered at the scene of a juvenile homicide in San Bernardino, California on August 27, 2022.
Baker has been detained since his arrest. On March 26, 2025 he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms as well as related charges.
Other defendants have also pleaded guilty or been convicted: Perez awaits sentencing after being found guilty on multiple counts related to firearms trafficking and drug offenses; Diaz was sentenced to four years imprisonment; Soto and Pichardo are awaiting sentencing.
The case was investigated by several agencies including the FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Connecticut State Police; local police departments from Connecticut cities as well as Chino Police Department in California.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Natasha M. Freismuth and Christopher J. Lembo prosecuted the case through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.
David X. Sullivan thanked both the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas and the Central District of California for their support during this investigation and prosecution.
