Man, 32, Gets 2 Years For Violating Release On Prior Prison Bid: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT —A 32-year-old New Haven man was sentenced to serve time for violating supervised release, federal prosecutors said.

According to US Attorney for Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery, Errie McClendon will serve 24 in federal prison for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

According to Avery, court documents and statements made in court, on May 11, 2019, New Haven Police received information that an individual was in possession of a firearm in Goffe Street Park in New Haven. After officers arrived at the park and identified McClendon, a convicted felon, they approached him and instructed him to remove his hand from his sweatshirt pocket, Avery said. McClendon took a handgun from his pocket and tossed it toward a bystander, who refusing to catch the gun, put his hands in the air and the gun fell to the ground, Avery said. McClendon then struggled with the officers before he was subdued and a loaded Ruger, model P85, 9mm pistol with an obliterated serial number, was recovered from the scene, the US Attorney said.

McClendon pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and, on September 23, 2020, U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant sentenced him to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Released in June 2022, in October 2022, Hamden Police arrested McClendon for assault, threatening, and risk of injury to a minor, an offense stemming from a domestic incident in September 2022, per Avery.

In addition, the US Attorney said, on multiple occasions between June and December 2022, McClendon tested positive for cocaine and marijuana. McClendon also violated his supervised release conditions in other ways, including having unauthorized contact with another convicted felon, she said.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis.