BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT (BNO NEWS) – A Connecticut man pleaded guilty Friday in a federal court for the possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon and one count of distribution of heroine.

George Morales, 47, was taken into custody on April 2, 2009 after serving a state arrest warrant at Morales’ residence after he was seen exiting a bathroom carrying a plastic bag, which he then threw in the closet. After he was taken into custody, officials seized seventy blue folds of heroin from his closet. After being given a key to a safe in the closet by Morales, officials found a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol with a destroyed serial number, a magazine containing five rounds of .380 caliber ammunition, and $5,775 in cash. Inside the residence, officers also found ten blue folds of heroin in the toilet, and twenty blue folds of heroin and a baggy that contained marijuana in the kitchen cabinet.

A Project Safe Neighborhoods investigation, “Operation Young Gunz,” was conducted by members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Bridgeport Police Department, Drug Enforcement Agency, and U.S. Marshals Service. The investigation, which included the purchase of a multitude of firearms, heroin, and crack cocaine, targeted young repeat offenders who are alleged to have sold and conspired to sell firearms for profit. Further analysis of the firearms purchased during this investigation revealed that several of the firearms were reported stolen and/or were used in other crimes.

Prior to April 2009, Morales sustained several felony convictions in Connecticut Superior Court; it’s a violation of federal law for a convicted felon to possess a firearm that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

Morales faces a maximum penalty of ten years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the gun charge, and a maximum penalty of 20 years as well as a fine of $1 million on the heroin distribution charge.

The Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative is aimed at reducing gun and gang violence, deterring illegal possession of guns, ammunition and body armor, and improving the safety of residents of Connecticut cities.