Marc H. Silverman, the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, stated that Kwitzpatrick Duffany, aged 37 and previously residing in Willimantic, received a 108-month federal prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford delivered the sentence, which will be followed by four years of supervised release. Duffany was charged for stealing 38 firearms from a Newington gun store in 2023.
Court documents reveal that on May 27, 2023, Duffany broke into Hoffman's Gun Store during non-business hours. He climbed onto the balcony over the main entrance, cut into the siding, and dropped down from the ceiling. Surveillance footage depicts Duffany filling duffel bags with the stolen guns before leaving through the same entry point. After the theft, Duffany and accomplices went to Hartford, where he traded some firearms for cash and drugs. In the days that followed, most of the guns were sold in exchange for cash and narcotics, while others were given to associates to sell.
Duffany was arrested by the Connecticut State Police in Ashford on June 1, 2023. Nearby gas station surveillance captured him hiding a satchel in a soda display case shortly before his arrest. Inside the recovered satchel, authorities found a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun and drugs. The firearm was among those stolen from Hoffman's.
As of now, only six of the stolen firearms have been retrieved by law enforcement, including one found by Hartford Police while probing a homicide on July 5, 2024.
Since his arrest, Duffany has remained in detention. On February 3, 2025, he confessed to theft of firearms from a licensee and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Newington Police Department, with support from the Connecticut State Police and Willimantic Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Dearington led the prosecution.
Acting U.S. Attorney Silverman expressed gratitude to the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Britain for their cooperation in the investigation and prosecution.