Newington Gun Store Theft Leads To Indictment

WILLIMANTIC, CT — An indictment has charged a Connecticut man man with stealing more than 30 Guns from a Newington gun store, a leading prosecutor said.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut and James Ferguson, special agent in charge at the ATF's Boston Field Division, announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment yesterday charging Kwitzpatrick Duffany, 36, formerly of Willimantic, with firearm and drug offenses stemming from an investigation into the theft of more than 30 firearms from the Newington store last year.

According to the indictment, on May 27, 2023, Duffany stole more than 30 firearms from Hoffman’s “Guns for the Good Guys,” a federal firearms licensee located in Newington. On that date, Duffany also "possessed with intent" to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, and used a firearm in relation to that offense, Avery said.

Case records show that Duffany's criminal history includes two state convictions for third-degree burglary. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has "moved in interstate or foreign commerce," Avery said.

The indictment charges Duffany with theft of firearms from a licensee, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 10 years; unlawful possession of firearms by a felon, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 15 years; possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, an offense that carries a maximum term of 20 years; and use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, an offense that carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of at least five years.

Duffany has been detained since his arrest on unrelated state charges on May 31, 2023.