Southington Man Pleads Guilty To Selling Assault Weapons: Feds

SOUTHINGTON/BRIDGEPORT, CT — A Southington man admitted in federal court Tuesday that he illegally sold dangerous, homemade assault rifles and ammunition, pleading guilty to several charges.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said Bryan Joyce, 38, of Southington, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport to multiple offenses related to selling privately made AR-15-style firearms, ammunition, and marijuana.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in January 2022, the Connecticut State Police received information Joyce was offering to sell assault weapons and other firearms.

These, Avery said, included privately manufactured firearms (PMFs or “ghost guns”), as well as ammunition and firearms accessories.

She said, on Jan. 28, 2022, Joyce sold an undercover law officer a privately-made AR-15 style rifle, a privately-made 9mm handgun, and a box of ammunition, in exchange for $2,000.

On March 4, 2022, Joyce sold the undercover officer two loaded AR-15-style rifles and approximately 400 grams of marijuana, for $5,800, authorities said.

On March 21, 2022, Joyce was taken into custody at a parking lot in Waterbury, where he met with the undercover officer who had arranged to purchase five more privately-made AR-15-style rifles and a kilogram of marijuana, Avery said.

A search of Joyce’s vehicle revealed five firearms, marijuana, and numerous rounds of ammunition, she said.

The investigation showed Gregory Leary was Joyce’s firearm supplier.

A subsequent search of Leary’s Wolcott residence at the time revealed several other, illegally made guns and tools/equipment to make them.

Joyce is a felon with a criminal history that includes state convictions for drug, larceny, and burglary offenses, Avery said.

She said 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 Joyce pleaded guilty to one count of dealing in firearms without a license, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years; three counts of unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each count; one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, marijuana, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years; and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

Joyce will be sentenced Jan. 6, 2025.

Joyce, who had been released on bond, has been detained since April 2024 after he was arrested after an alleged domestic violence incident.

Leary pleaded guilty on June 13, 2023, and admitted he manufactured and sold more than 25 firearms to Joyce. On Nov. 7, 2023, he was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment.

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