New Haven Man Sentenced In Gun, Drugs Case

NEW HAVEN, CT — A New Haven man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for firearm and drug offenses, according to a statement from federal prosecutors. Mariano Irizarry, 36, will also serve three years of supervised release.

Police were called in the early morning hours of New Year's Day, 2019, regarding a disturbance and a report of an individual with a gun in front of a nightclub on Hamilton Street in New Haven. At the scene, a bystander identified Irizarry as being in possession of a gun.

Prosecutors said Irizarry ignored commands from officers, opened the driver’s side door of his vehicle and made furtive movements in the area of the steering wheel. He then closed the door and surrendered to officers.

A of the area beneath the steering wheel revealed a loaded .40 caliber Glock 27 pistol. The firearm had been reported stolen in a residential burglary in New Haven in March 2015.

Irizarry’s criminal history includes felony drug convictions in 2000 and 2010, and a felony conviction in August 2000 for illegal sexual contact with a minor.

He was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on February 6, 2019, and was released on a $50,000 bond.

In June, he sold four bags of heroin, some of which contained fentanyl, to an individual working with law enforcement.

He has been detained since his arrest that month. Irizarry pleaded guilty in September to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of distributing a controlled substance while on pretrial release.