A 51-year-old Greenwich resident was sentenced Thursday to serve 12 months and one day in prison, following his conviction for possessing machine guns.
Thomas Belluci of Cutler Road, Greenwich, was sentenced Jan. 3 by United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven. After he completes his jail term, Belluci was ordered to serve two months of home confinement immediately after his release from prison, perform 100 hours of community service, pay a $6,000 fine, all to be followed by three years of supervised release, for possessing unregistered machine guns, according to a statement issued by David B. Fein, United States Attorney for Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on Aug. 22, 2011, Greenwich Police officers encountered Belluci at his residence on Cutler Road in Greenwich after a neighbor had reported that shots had been fired on Belluci’s property.
Here is the US Attorney's account of the incident:
Belluci, who was alone in the house, initially stated that he did not hear any gunshots and he allowed officers to enter his home. Belluci then showed officers only one side of the house, claimed that the living room encompassed the entire house and that there was no second floor to the house. After Belluci led the officers through a door, which he at first stated was to a closet but, in fact, led to a hallway that opened into other rooms, Belluci ran into a room and locked the door. Two officers then forced opened the door and spotted Belluci bent over several long gun cases that were on the floor.
When the officers asked Belluci if he had fired a weapon earlier, he admitted that he had fired a handgun out of his kitchen window. However, he would not tell the officers where the firearm was. The officers then attempted to restrain Belluci, but he resisted, struggled with one officer and was tased by the other. Belluci was placed into an ambulance and was taken to the hospital.
A subsequent search of Belluci ’s home revealed more than 160 firearms, including 10 machine guns, at least eight of which were operational and fired multiple rounds with a single squeeze of the trigger. Officers seized the firearms, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition and other accessories.
None of the machine guns were registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
Belluci was arrested on federal charges on May 11, 2012, and was held until his release on a $500,000 surety bond on July 30, 2012. On Oct. 9, 2012, he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun.
He has been ordered to report to prison on Feb. 14, 2013. The case was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Greenwich Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rahul Kale.
