Ex-Florida correctional officer gets 3 1/2 years in EH gun crimes
Jun. 14—A former Florida correctional officer who came to East Hartford with her boyfriend, a convicted felon, bringing several guns with her, has been sentenced in a plea bargain to 3 1/2 years in prison for two gun felonies but wasn't convicted of gun trafficking, the most serious charge she was facing.
Maryjane Williamson, 42, who most recently lived on Burnside Avenue in East Hartford, was convicted in a June 2 Hartford Superior Court plea bargain of illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and carrying a pistol without a permit, online court records show.
She was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, followed by three years' probation, with the possibility of another 3 1/2 years behind bars if she violates release conditions, according to the records.
However, Williamson wasn't convicted of the firearms trafficking charge she was facing, which carries up to 20 years in prison.
Nor was she convicted of any charges stemming from the theft of a car belonging to a Hartford man, whose personal investigation of the theft led to the arrests of Williamson and her boyfriend, Calvin L. Rodriguez, 29, by East Hartford police.
Charges remain pending against Rodriguez, who is being held in lieu of $350,000 bond at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville. His next appearance in Hartford Superior Court is scheduled for June 24.
Williamson has been in jail since her arrest last July and will get credit for that time against her sentence.
GUN SENTENCE
DEFENDANT: Maryjane Williamson, 42, a former Florida correctional officer who most recently lived on Burnside Avenue in East Hartford
CONVICTIONS: Illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, carrying a pistol without a permit
SENTENCE: Seven years, suspended after 3 1/2 years in prison, three years' probation
The following events led to the arrests of Williamson and Rodriguez, according to an affidavit by East Hartford police Investigator Courtney Desilet: A man came to the East Hartford police station on Jan. 26 to report that he located his 1998 Honda Civic, which he had earlier reported stolen to Hartford police.
He said an employee of a corner store near his home showed him video of the theft that showed the thief walking back and forth between his car and a convertible Chevrolet Camaro. The thief left in the Honda and a person later identified as Williamson followed in the Camaro.
The owner posted information about the theft on Facebook and received a call from a friend reporting that his car was parked in a lot on Hillside Street in East Hartford. The owner and his friend found a convertible Camaro in the area with a man sitting in it. The owner confronted the man but backed off when he saw a pistol in his lap.
His friend followed the Camaro, while the owner went to the police station to report the incident.
Based on information from the friend, police located the car parked on Hanmer Street and could see a handgun inside it. But they couldn't find the driver.
Police seized the visible handgun, which had a round in the firing chamber and 14 more in the magazine. They had the car towed to their impound lot.
Williamson, the registered owner of the Camaro, later admitted to police that she had been driving around with Rodriguez when he saw the Honda, opened it with a set of keys, and drove it away.
She also admitted having two other guns in the Camaro, which police seized after she consented to a search.
Desilet learned from Florida authorities that Williamson and Rodriguez were the primary suspects in the burglary of Williamson's ex-husband's house in which 30 guns were reported stolen. Williamson admitted having gotten 37 guns from her ex-husband's house but said they belonged to her and that he gave her permission to take them.
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