Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division, today announced that, on April 29, 2022, LEAH BOUCHER, 30, of Bristol, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty via videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector to one count of making a false statement to a firearms dealer.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 9, 2021, law enforcement conducted a court-authorized search of Tyrone Brown’s residence on Stevens Street in New Haven and seized a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Brown, who was a convicted felon and was prohibited by federal law from purchasing or possessing a firearm or ammunition, was arrested at that time. The investigation revealed that the firearm was registered to a family member of Boucher, and that Boucher had purchased 10 other firearms at four different gun stores in Connecticut between March and July 2021. When investigators interviewed Boucher on August 26, 2021, Boucher admitted that she had purchased firearms for other individuals, and that she was no longer in possession of any of the 10 firearms that were registered to her.
Boucher was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on October 15, 2021.
At sentencing, which is scheduled for July 25, before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arteron in New Haven, Boucher faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Boucher has been detained since February 23, 2022, when her bond was revoked.
On April 25, 2022, Brown pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. He is detained while awaiting sentencing.
This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the New Haven Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Gresham.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.