New Haven man gets 7 years for gun offense

Search also found drugs and cash

A Connecticut man was sentenced to more than seven years in prison this week on a gun charge, according to federal authorities.

Maurice Menafee, also known as “Mo,” 34, of New Haven, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to a total of 86 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for the firearm possession offense, according to federal authorities.

Authorities, citing both court documents and statements made in court, said that the case involved the Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force and the New Haven Police Department Shooting Task Force spotting a car “involved in suspected drug transactions” in New Haven.

The car was then seen “traveling recklessly at high rate of speed throughout the city,” and the investigators then found it at a residence and identified the driver as Menafee, according to federal authorities.

Menafee was taken into custody and a search found he was carrying $564 in cash and that there was a Sig Sauer P238 .380 caliber pistol, 64 baggies of crack cocaine, and 116 wax folds of fentanyl in the car, according to federal authorities.

Menafee’s criminal history includes state firearm and drug convictions and he is therefore not permitted to possess the gun, according to federal authorities.

Menafee has been in custody since March 2, 2022 and pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in January 2023, according to federal authorities.

The DEA New Haven Task Force includes participants from the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Waterbury, East Haven, Branford, West Haven, Ansonia, Meriden, Naugatuck, and Shelton police departments.the case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods.