United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WATERBURY, Conn. - Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LONNIE JOYNER, also known as “Flo,” 37, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking firearms and narcotics between Connecticut and Maine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration began investigating Joyner and other Connecticut residents who were driving to northeastern Maine with 100-gram quantities of heroin, and sometimes crack cocaine, and selling the drugs to customers in Maine.  In exchange for the narcotics, Joyner received money or firearms from his customers.  On September 27, 2017, a court-authorized search of a storage unit that Joyner rented at a Waterbury storage facility revealed two .38 caliber revolvers.

Joyner’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for firearm, narcotics, strangulation 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.

After his arrest in this case and while released on bond, Joyner threatened his probation officer and failed to appear for a court proceeding.  He has been detained since May 11, 2021, when he was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force.  On June 4, 2021, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of firearms by a felon.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Connecticut and Maine, with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police and the Waterbury Police Department.  The DEA New Haven Task Force includes participants from the U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Meriden, Derby, Middletown, Naugatuck and Waterbury Police Departments.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.