Man Pleads Guilty In Green Street Shooting

A man who was charged with federal firearms violations after a summer shooting incident on Green Street has pleaded guilty to one of the charges against him.

Javier J. Muniz, 25, entered the plea to a charge of possession of ammunition by a previously convicted felon, U.S. Attorney David B. Fein announced today. Muniz faces up to 10 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 24.

According to the New London Police Department, officers saw Muniz fire a weapon in the vicinity of a group of people near 96 Green Street at about 2:13 a.m. on the morning of June 24. Two people suffered minor injuries in the incident.

Officers chased Muniz a short distance and apprehended him as he was trying to discard the weapon. Fein said Muniz had a .38-caliber Colt revolver with three remaining live rounds of Frontier SPL ammunition. Police also recovered three shell casings.

Muniz was prohibited from owning a firearm due to three prior felony convictions in Connecticut. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, suspended after 20 months, with five years of probation following a conviction on charges of first-degree burglary and second-degree robbery in September of 2005.

Muniz was also convicted in August of 2007 of violating his probation and a felony charge of criminal possession of a pistol or revolver. Two months later, he was sentenced to 66 months in prison on the probation violation and a concurrent sentence of 30 months in prison, suspended after a year, with two years probation on the firearm charge.

Probation Officer Robert Amanti said in a report that Muniz was released from prison on March 2. Amanti requested an arrest warrant for Muniz four days before the shooting, saying he had committed probation violations including the use of illegal drugs, missing appointments with his probation officer and substance abuse counselors, and failing to keep his probation officer informed of his whereabouts.

The New London Police Department charged Muniz with two counts of first-degree assault and one count each of first-degree reckless endangerment, illegal discharge of a weapon, criminal use of a weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm under the influence of alcohol or drugs, criminal possession of a pistol or revolver, and interfering with police following the shooting. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also involved in the investigation.

Muniz's plea was entered in New Haven before U.S. District Court Judge Janet C. Hall.

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