Norwich Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearm Charge Stemming from New London Shooting

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that on July 2, 2020, TREMAINE DOWDELL, 27, of Norwich, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish to a federal firearm offense stemming from an assault and shooting in New London last year.

Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the court proceeding occurred via videoconference.    

According to court documents and statements made in court, on September 14, 2019, Dowdell and three associates assaulted a man outside of the H&T Mart on Ocean Avenue in New London.  Surveillance video captured Dowdell removing a gun from his pants and firing a single shot toward the victim of the assault.  The bullet missed the victim.  When police arrived a short time later, officers found a .40 caliber cartridge casing at the location where Dowdell fired the gun.

Dowdell’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for larceny, burglary 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.

On October 3, 2019, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Dowdell with one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.  After actively evading law enforcement, Dowdell was found and arrested at a residence in Sprague on November 5, 2019.  He possessed a loaded .25 caliber handgun and approximately 33 grams of crack cocaine at the time of his arrest.

Dowdell pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton on September 24, 2020.

Dowdell is currently detained.

This matter is being investigated by the New London Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Norwich Police Department and Connecticut State Parole.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile and Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Narducci of the New London State’s Attorney Office.