Suspect from Waterbury gun theft case faces new federal charge

March 17, 2023  |  By Mike Donoghue  |  Correspondent

BURLINGTON – A three-time convicted felon from Morristown has been charged by federal authorities with knowingly and intentionally making his residence available for the unlawful storing, distributing and using of controlled substances, officials said.
Michael K. Ulrich, 31, who authorities say is also a suspect in the theft of two handguns from a popular Waterbury gun store last month, appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Thursday afternoon.
Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle ruled Ulrich was a danger to the community and needed to be detained. Ulrich’s criminal record includes felony convictions for unlawful mischief in 2020 and burglaries in 2013 and 2020, Doyle said. Ulrich also has several misdemeanor convictions, including two drug-possession cases in 2012 and 2013 that both netted jail time, records show. 

The federal detention ruling came as the state has repeatedly failed to jail Ulrich, even when he reportedly carried crack cocaine into the state probation office in Morristown when checking in recently, officials said. 

Doyle noted Ulrich also had four violations of probation cases in the past two months.

Investigators were able to identify Michael K. Ulrich (left) and Carlee A. Shields (right) with help from the public after police released this security camera image from Parro's Gun Shop in Waterbury.

It was during the criminal investigation into the theft of two handguns last month from Parro’s Gun Shop and Indoor Range in Waterbury that Ulrich and his housemate, Carlee A. Shields, 44, became prime suspects after a security video was released to the public. Concerned citizens soon provided names to police.

Morristown Police, which was assisting in the state police investigation, reported officers responded to the Ulrich-Shields residence at 941 Washington Highway and determined the home was being used to help with drug storage and distribution, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives said in court papers.

A third person, Sharad Collier, 25, of Hartford, Connecticut, ran out the back of the house when police arrived, Morristown Detective Lt. Todd Baxter reported. Baxter said a police K-9 was deployed and tracked Collier to a nearby small shed belonging to a neighbor, court papers note.

Collier had a two-hour standoff with police before he eventually surrendered, ATF Special Agent Eric Brimo said. Collier received medical attention for exposure after the incident, Brimo said.

Brimo said a subsequent court-ordered search of the Washington Highway residence netted police a Glock Model 23 .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol in a bedroom. It was unclear if the .40-caliber weapon was the same one missing from the Waterbury store. The other stolen gun was a .22-caliber, police said.

While at the Morristown residence, Baxter and others observed wax glassine baggies used to package controlled substances, including heroin and fentanyl for street-level distribution. Police also found three bags of crack cocaine totaling about 75 grams along with drug paraphernalia, including scales to weigh the drugs, Brimo wrote in court papers.

Brimo wrote that Morristown Chief Jason Luneau, a former member of the Vermont Drug Task Force, interviewed Ulrich and learned he used both fentanyl and crack cocaine, but was trying to get clean. Ulrich denied he was running a “crack house,” court records show.

Ulrich was not asked to enter a plea at the court hearing.

Doyle noted that just before the court hearing began, Ulrich had tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine when checked by Pre-Trial Services and admitted using heroin on Wednesday. Doyle said Ulrich reported he completed Valley Vista, a residential drug treatment facility in Bradford, but apparently relapsed.

Doyle questioned whether Ulrich was in any condition to participate in the court hearing and if he was able to stand. Ulrich agreed to proceed and stood, but braced himself with both hands leaning on the defense table.

Shields has denied a retail theft charge for the Parro case, records show.

Ulrich pleaded not guilty to two counts of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm based on the Parro case, records show. Judge Kevin Griffin, based on a preliminary state police affidavit, failed to find probable cause for two other charges of retail theft for the missing guns.

Griffin released them on conditions.

Doyle also was told during the hearing that Ulrich was arrested in Hartford, Connecticut, last month on drug charges.

Morristown Police arrested him Wednesday night on the federal charge when he appeared at the police station to try to retrieve his cellphone from his earlier arrest. The cellphone had pictures of Ulrich with firearms, a prosecutor said.

Doyle set a probable cause hearing in the federal case for March 30, unless a grand jury returns an indictment in the interim. If an indictment is returned, the hearing would become an arraignment.