Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging TRAEVAUGHNN MORRISON, 26, of Hartford, with narcotics distribution and firearm possession offenses.
As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, on April 5, 2022, members of the DEA’s Hartford Task Force made a controlled purchase of fentanyl and crack cocaine from Morrison in Bristol. After the drug sale, investigators followed Morrison as he drove his car and then parked in a condominium parking lot, where Morrison was taken into custody. At the time of Morrison’s arrest, investigators found in his car additional quantities of fentanyl and crack cocaine, and a Polymer80 handgun (“ghost gun”) with an extended magazine loaded with ammunition.
It is alleged that Morrison’s criminal history includes convictions for felony drug offenses. 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.
The indictment charges Morrison with one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, cocaine base (“crack”) and fentanyl, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carries a mandatory prison term of at least five years; and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Morrison has been detained since his arrest.
U.S. Attorney Boyle stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The DEA’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic Police Departments. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Pierpont, Jr.