Southington Man Receives 90-Month Sentence for Selling Privately Made AR-15-Style Rifles and Marijuana

BRYAN JOYCE, 40, of Southington, was sentenced to 90 months in prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport on May 13, 2026, for selling privately made AR-15-style firearms, ammunition, and marijuana.

The offenses involved dealing in AR-15-style assault rifles that were privately manufactured without serial numbers, along with ammunition and marijuana. Joyce sold these items in transactions that violated federal law on unlicensed firearms dealing and controlled substances. The case produced one defendant with a sentence of 7.5 years.

The sentence changes the prior state in which Joyce remained at liberty pending resolution of the charges. He now begins a 90-month term of imprisonment immediately, followed by three years of supervised release upon completion. The judgment activates standard federal post-conviction reporting to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on the firearms violations and to the Drug Enforcement Administration on the marijuana counts.

Downstream, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives must incorporate the case outcome into its annual trace data on privately made firearms recovered in crimes. Federal prosecutors in the District of Connecticut gain a sentencing precedent for future cases involving ghost guns and marijuana trafficking that carries a mandatory minimum guideline range near the 90-month mark.

The ruling also requires Joyce to forfeit any remaining firearms, ammunition, and proceeds, which law enforcement must catalog and destroy or repurpose per agency protocol.

This marks the latest federal prosecution in Connecticut targeting the intersection of unlicensed AR-15-style firearm manufacturing and marijuana distribution. The Department of Justice has pursued similar cases under statutes prohibiting dealing in firearms without a license and distribution of controlled substances.