New Haven Man Sentenced To 15 Months In Jail On Weapons Charges

STAMFORD, CT — A 23-year-old New Haven man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison, time already served and three years of supervised release for illegally possessing firearms in Stamford, the U.S. District Attorney for Connecticut announced Thursday.

Joel Cruz-Berrios, also known as “Krack”, arranged to trade firearms in Stamford in January 2019. Berrios was arrested by Stamford Police along with Nyejire Redmond and Victor Berrios-Sanchez after they traveled from New Haven to a parking garage in Stamford. At the time the arrests, Berrios-Sanchez possessed a loaded .22 caliber revolver, a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun and three .25 caliber rounds of ammunition, and Redmond possessed a loaded .45 caliber automatic handgun that had been reported stolen in New Britain in December 2018.

Redmond was sitting in the backseat of the vehicle next to a sleeping, unrestrained child who was approximately two years old. According to court records, Cruz-Berrios has three prior convictions, and he was on probation from a prior felony conviction when he was arrested in this case.

Cruz-Berrios has been detained in state custody since March 13, 2019. On November 4, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearm by a convicted felon. Redmond previously pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm and, on April 16, was sentenced to approximately 15 months of imprisonment, time served. Berrios-Sanchez pleaded guilty in state court to firearm offenses and was sentenced to 31 months of incarceration.

The matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Stamford Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria del Pilar Gonzalez.