Department of Justice

Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that VASHUN LEWIS, also known as “V-Love,” 45, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall to 90 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for firearm possession offenses.

Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the sentencing occurred via videoconference.

According to court documents and the evidence presented during Lewis’ trial last year, in 2017, the New Haven Police Department received information that Lewis was engaged in an illegal cigarette trafficking operation, was selling marijuana and heroin, and was known to possess a handgun.  Prior to 2017, Lewis had been convicted of state robbery, assault, drug, weapon and racketeering offenses.  Lewis was arrested on June 1, 2017, after a court-authorized search of his residence revealed a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, more than 100 grams of marijuana, approximately 13 grams of heroin packaged for distribution, items used to process and package drugs for street sale, and more than 50 cartons of cigarettes.  Investigators also seized approximately 500 grams of cocaine from a car connected to Lewis that was parked outside of his residence.

On March 5, 2020, the jury found Lewis guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Lewis has been detained since November 2017. 

This investigation was conducted by the New Haven Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Margaret M. Donovan and Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis.

This prosecution has been brought through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.

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