Enfield Resident Gets Prison Time In Fed Gun Case

ENFIELD, CT — An Enfield man is headed to prison as part of a federal arms dealing case.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that 36-year-old Enfield resident Norman Klosek, also known as Rich Klosek, was sentenced Wednesday today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 46 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally purchasing and selling firearms.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2018, the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force began investigating Ricardo Reyes, also known as "Rick the Ruler." Reyes is a member of the Los Solidos street gang who was distributing fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack in the area of Park Street and Hungerford Street in Hartford, according to case records.

During the investigation, police conducted multiple controlled purchases of narcotics from Reyes, Durham said.

Court-authorized wiretaps confirmed that Reyes was distributing narcotics to "numerous customers," and identified individuals who supplied drugs to Reyes and associates who sold drugs on his behalf, according to case records.

"Intercepted communications" also revealed Reyes was acquiring and trafficking firearms, and that Klosek, who had a valid state pistol permit, was acting as a "straw purchaser" of firearms for Reyes, Durham said.

According to case records, Klosek was addicted to heroin and fentanyl, and he purchased and transferred the firearms to support his drug addiction.

On April 22, 2019, Reyes picked up Klosek in Enfield and drove to the Newington Gun Exchange, a licensed gun dealer in Newington, where Klosek purchased two handguns, according to case records.

During the purchase, Klosek completed and signed an ATF Form 4473 form, on which he falsely represented that he was the actual purchaser of the firearms and was not acquiring the firearms for another person, case records show. He also "represented that he was not an unlawful user, or addicted to, any controlled substances," Durham said.

Klosek provided the guns to Reyes after the purchase, he added.

Later that day, investigators conducted a traffic stop of Reyes’ vehicle and recovered the two firearms, Durham said.

Reyes and several co-defendants were arrested on federal criminal complaints on June 17, 2019. On that date, investigators seized two additional guns that had been purchased by Klosek, records show.

The investigation revealed that Klosek first purchased and registered a firearm with the State of Connecticut on Nov. 6, 2018.

Since that date, Durham said, Klosek purchased a total of 47 handguns. Twenty-five of the guns were purchased in a six-week period between March 8 and April 22, 2019, Durham said.

On April 24, 2019, a search of Klosek’s residence revealed empty gun boxes and receipts for firearm purchases, but no firearms, records show. Klosek was arrested the following day in Hartford and had on him fentanyl and heroin at the time of his arrest, Durham said.

To date, approximately 10 of the 47 handguns purchased by Klosek have been recovered by law enforcement agents, Durham said. One gun was recovered after it was used in a shooting in Hartford on August 22, 2019, he added.

In September 2020, handguns purchased by Klosek were recovered as part of criminal investigations in Brimfield, MA, and Riverside, CA, records show.

On March 2, 2020, Klosek pleaded guilty to one count of dealing firearms without a license and one count of making a false statement during the acquisition of a firearm.

Klosek, who is released on a $50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on Nov. 17.

On June 27, 2019, a grand jury Hartford returned a 32-count indictment charging Reyes and 14 other members and associates of Los Solidos with various narcotics trafficking and firearm possession offenses. Reyes has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.