Former Enfield Man Sentenced to Prison In Firearm Violation Case

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A former Enfield resident was sentenced Wednesday to 45 months in prison in connection with a Jan. 2019 incident outside a Hartford nightclub in which he brandished a handgun, according to John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

As part of his sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley, Nathaniel Rodriguez, 24, will have three years of supervised release following his prison term. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally possessing a firearm.

Around 2 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2019, Hartford police received reports of a fight outside the Vanish Bar and Grille Club on Meadow Street in the city. A detective saw Rodriguez arguing with several individuals in an SUV, and then produce a handgun, Durham said.

Officers took Rodriguez into custody and recovered a loaded M&P Bodyguard .380 caliber handgun which he dropped on the ground. The gun had been reported stolen in Massachusetts in 2017, Durham said.

Rodriguez's criminal history includes felony convictions in Massachusetts for firearms, assault, drug, and witness intimidation offenses. He has been detained since March 29, 2019, when he was arrested in Enfield in an unrelated case involving a shooting outside his Alden Avenue home, in which a man sustained a leg wound.

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