NEW HAVEN — A former Greenwich police officer who was hooked on heroin pleaded guilty Monday to transferring guns to a convicted felon.
Joseph Ryan, 57, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 6. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
According to court documents, Ansonia police raided a house in April 2018 at an unspecified location in the city to seize 12 firearms registered to a person in the residence who was not identified.
Ansonia police ended up seizing five weapons, which were taken back to police headquarters.
A year later — Ryan, addicted to heroin at the time and working as a Greenwich police officer — went to the Ansonia Police Department and, after showing a pistol permit and paperwork showing the weapons had been sold or transferred to him, took possession of the guns.
That’s according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Meanwhile, the ATF and New Haven police were investigating 24-year-old Ansonia resident Malique Martin. They used an informant to make a series of illegal gun buys from Martin, prosecutors said.
Three of the weapons purchased were weapons Ryan had legally picked up from the Ansonia police headquarters, prosecuted alleged.
Federal law enforcement began investigating Ryan.
The investigation revealed Ryan, after taking possession of the weapons, gave them to an unidentified convicted felon described in a federal affidavit as a “cooperating defendant.” The unidentified person connected Ryan with a heroin dealer, according to court documents.
The cooperating defendant allegedly transferred the guns to Martin, who was then arrested for illegally selling them to law enforcement in a series of “controlled buys.” Martin was sentenced to a year in prison starting last July.
On Monday, Ryan pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of firearms by an unlawful user of a controlled substance.
This investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), New Haven Police Department, Ansonia Police Department and Connecticut State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria del Pilar Gonzalez.
