Bristol man accused of stealing guns likely headed to trial, could be exposed to more than six decades in prison
The Bristol Press
By: Justin Muszynski
15 August 2017

BRISTOL - A city man accused of stealing more than $4,000 worth of guns and jewelry from a local condo is likely headed to trial.

Ralph Gezelman, 41, of 1475 Farmington Ave., rejected a plea bargain on Tuesday in Bristol Superior Court. The deal, offered by a judge after a pretrial hearing, would have required a guilty plea and the service of 40 months in prison, followed by four months of special parole.

That deal was made available after Gezelman rejected multiple offers from state prosecutors, which called for prison sentences of seven or five years, followed by a varying number of years on special parole.

Gezelman’s case on Tuesday was transferred to New Britain Superior Court - where Bristol trials are held. He is scheduled to appear there on Sept. 27.

At trial, court officials said, Gezelman—who is free on $150,000 bond–could get up to 61½ years in prison if he is found guilty of all the charges he is facing: third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, first-degree criminal trespassing, criminal possession of a firearm and four counts of theft of a firearm.

Police allege Gezelman stole four hand guns and several pieces of jewelry from his ex-girlfriend’s Redstone Hill Road condo on Jan. 3, 2014.

According to the arrest warrant, the victim came home around 3:15 p.m. and found a large hole cut in her gun safe. Three firearms from the safe and another one from her nightstand, as well as some jewelry were missing.

The total amount of jewelry and guns reported stolen was $4,744.

The day of the burglary, according to the warrant, Gezelman sent several text messages to his ex asking if she could meet him for lunch. She told him, the warrant said, that she was dating someone else and that she would be out to lunch that day with several friends.

The woman told police Gezelman asked her several times during the conversation if she would be stopping by her condo during her lunch hour.

Gezelman may have made a copy of her house key

She also told police that Gezelman may have made a copy of her house key when she previously loaned it to him so he could do some work in the home while she had been at work.

wife gave them jewelry that she said her husband had stolen

A major break came in the case in November 2014 after a reported domestic incident between Gezelman and his wife.

While police were at the couple’s home, the wife gave them jewelry that she said her husband had stolen, the warrant said. She told them there was more that he had pawned.

Investigators then found that Gezelman had sold some jewelry to a Wallingford pawn shop in September 2014. Using pictures of the goods that were sold, the burglary victim identified them as the ones that were stolen from her condo.



top   contents  appendix   previous   next