A Waterbury police sergeant living in New Haven’s Westville neighborhood pleaded not guilty Tuesday to seven counts of illegal transfer or sale of a firearm, and one count each of: manufacturing a bomb, illegal possession of explosives, illegal possession of an assault weapon, risk of injury to a minor and illegal possession of fireworks.
Police said that Setzer (pictured), who’s 41, stockpiled weapons and explosives in his Westville home and that a gun he owned was used in five shootings on New Haven streets. (Click here and here for more details.)
Through his attorney, Michael Jefferson, Setzer entered a pro forma not guilty plea in a two-minute appearance Tuesday morning before Judge Roland Fasano in state Superior Court on Church Street.
That basically means Setzer’s leaving the door open to negotiating a plea deal with the judge and the state prosecutor’s office before his case would go to trial. Fasano set a pretrial court date for Nov. 4.
Setzer didn’t speak during the appearance.
Setzer’s 15 year-old son tried to clear his dad’s name by taking responsibility for the disappearance of the guns, one of which ended up at the scene of a shooting in New Haven. Cops concluded the son’s story didn’t add up, according to affidavits in Setzer’s court file.
