Man on Federal Supervised Release Pleads Guilty to Making False Statement

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALAN D. ZALESKI, 57, of New Britain, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to one count of making a false statement to the U.S. Probation Office and the U.S. District Court.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on February 3, 2011, ZALESKI was sentenced in New Haven federal court to 101 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing machine guns and numerous other unregistered weapons.  He was released from federal prison in December 2015 and began serving this three-year term of supervised release.  As part of his reporting requirements while under court supervision, ZALESKI submits online monthly reports to the U.S. Probation Office and ultimately to the U.S. District Judge responsible for his criminal case.  The online reporting form states that ZALESKI must answer the questions completely and correctly, and further warns ZALESKI that making a false statement may result in federal prosecution.

On his monthly reports to the U.S. Probation Office, ZALESKI has reported that he lives in New Britain.

On March 23, 2018, the FBI interviewed the owner of a property at 863 Shuttle Meadow Avenue in Berlin and learned that ZALESKI has rented this property for years and remains as the current renter.  This was the same location the FBI searched in 2006 over a period of three days in which dozens of automatic machine guns and semi-automatic firearms, multiple rifles and handguns, as well as silencers, fragmentation grenades, chemical grenades, smoke grenades and various homemade pipe bombs and IEDs were located and seized.  In 2006, the property was protected by booby-traps, including tripwires connected to percussion explosives and camouflaged plywood boards on the ground with nails protruding through them.

At no time has ZALESKI reported to the U.S. Probation Office his affiliation with any storage space or rental property, or association to any property located at 863 Shuttle Meadow Avenue in Berlin, thus preventing the U.S. Probation Office’s ability to supervise ZALESKI and ensure that he was in compliance with all of the conditions of his release.

ZALESKI is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on September 20, 2018, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

ZALESKI is released on bond pending sentencing.

This investigation has been conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.