Ex-Priest Sentenced to Prison for Explosives, Weapons Violations

EAST WINDSOR, CT — A former Catholic priest from an East Windsor church was sentenced Friday to nine months in prison for explosives and firearms offenses, according to a statement from Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Paul Gotta, 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford. His prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Gotta was a Catholic priest who resided at the rectory of St. Philip Church in East Windsor. In July 2012, he provided $350 in cash to a 17-year-old male and asked the teenager to purchase a handgun for him in Arizona. Gotta knewit was illegal for the teen to purchase firearms, but he had obtained fake identification to do so. In Nov. 2012, Gotta aided the teen in the purchase of thousands of rounds of handgun ammunition, Daly said.

Gotta also helped the teen build a pipe bomb. On two occasions in Dec. 2012, Gotta purchased two pounds of explosives powder at Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor and distributed it to the teen, then purchased other component parts for a pipe bomb in the following months, Daly said.

In addition, in May and June 2013, Gotta provided false information to law enforcement regarding alleged criminal offenses being committed by the teen, and failed to acknowledge his own role in the acquisition of the handgun, ammunition and pipe bomb parts, according to Daly.

Gotta was arrested on July 19, 2013. On March 8, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly and willfully distributing an explosive material to an individual who was under 21 years of age, Daly said.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the East Windsor Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert M. Spector.

Photo courtesy of East Windsor Police Department