An East Haven man has pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime currently being tried in federal court.

According to a press release from Vanessa Roberts Avery, the United State Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Luis Salaman, 20, of East Haven entered the plea via videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford on July 14. The charge is related to Salaman’s September 2020 drug arrest in New Haven.

Salaman, also known as “J,” “Lou Benz,” “Louie Benze,” and “Benz” was arrested on Sept. 22, 2020 by New Haven Police officers on an outstanding state arrest warrant after he entered a store on the corner of Ferry and Sanford Street. At the time of his arrest, Salaman was carrying a loaded Sig Sauer 1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol with an obliterated serial number, heroin, and marijuana. Police believe Salaman intended to sell the drugs.

Salaman has been detained since his federal arrest on Oct. 2, 2022, and has been scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer on Oct. 17, 2022. He faces a mandatory term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of life.

The case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, as well as by the New Haven Police Department. The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts established in 2001 with support by then-President George W. Bush.