Feds: Gun runner involved in East Hartford shooting admits to gun charge

An East Hartford man who federal authorities allege moved guns from North Dakota to the Hartford area admitted Tuesday to a gun charge drawn from a 2016 shooting.

Daniel “Chino” Vazquez, 21, faces up to life in prison for admitting to brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, the U.S. Attorney’s office siad.

The charge against Vazquez stems from a lengthy investigation by East Hartford police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into a violent band of men operating out of the Mayberry Village housing complex, officials said.

Two years after he was robbed of drugs, Vazquez spotted the man who held him up in 2016 and shot him, authorities said. He was later taken into custody and found with a Ruger 9mm handgun.

Through their investigation, authorities learned that a Vazquez associate had moved to Minot, North Dakota and reached out to Vazquez to move guns from the Midwest back to Connecticut, officials said.

While in North Dakota, Vazquez and a handful of associates purchased guns, sometimes with counterfeit cash, and then drove back to Connecticut, offiicals said. Authorities found two of these guns when they searched Vazquez’s apartment.

Federal authorities have traced nine guns thus far that have moved from North Dakota to Connecticut. Some were used in Hartford area shootings, they said.

Vazquez faces sentencing in February.