Norwich Man Sentenced to 57 Months in Prison for Firearm Offense Stemming From New London Shooting
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TREMAINE DOWDELL, 27, of Norwich, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton to 57 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for a federal firearm offense stemming from an assault and shooting in New London in 2019.
Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the court proceeding occurred via videoconference.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on September 14, 2019, Dowdell and three associates assaulted a man outside of the H&T Mart on Ocean Avenue in New London. The H&T Mart was open and had customers coming in and out of the store. Surveillance video captured Dowdell and three others physically attack the victim outside the storefront. Later, video footage showed Dowdell remove a gun from his pants and fire a single shot toward the victim of the assault, who was standing near the front door of the store. The bullet missed the victim. When police arrived a short time later, officers found a .40 caliber cartridge casing at the location where Dowdell fired the gun.
Dowdell’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for larceny, burglary and failure to appear offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
On October 3, 2019, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Dowdell with one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. After actively evading law enforcement, Dowdell was found and arrested at a residence in Sprague on November 5, 2019. He possessed a loaded .25 caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number and approximately 33 grams of crack cocaine, which agents found floating in a toilet tank, at the time of his arrest.
Dowdell has been detained since his arrest. On July 2, 2020, Dowdell pleaded guilty to one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
This matter was investigated by the New London Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Norwich Police Department and Connecticut State Parole. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel J. Gentile and Sarah P. Karwan, in coordination with the New London State’s Attorney’s Office.
