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East Haven Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Federal Prison for Firearm Offense

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Luis Salaman, Jr., also known as “J,” “Lou Benz,” “Louie Benz” and “Benz,” 20, of East Haven, was sentenced on Nov. 17 by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on Sept. 22, 2020, New Haven Police officers arrested Salaman on an outstanding state arrest warrant after he entered a store on the corner of Ferry Street and Sanford Street in New Haven. At the time of his arrest, Salaman possessed a loaded Sig Sauer 1911 .45 caliber firearm with an obliterated serial number, and heroin and marijuana that he intended to distribute.

The investigation also revealed that, in the summer of 2020, Salaman provided marijuana to an individual in exchange for two handguns.

Salaman has been detained since his federal arrest on October 2, 2020. He pleaded guilty on July 14.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Haven Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Konstantin Lantsman and Natasha Freismuth.

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.