A 29-year-old Waterbury man, known as “Meech,” has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of controlled substances with intent to resell.

The man, D'Metrius Johnson, formerly known as D'Metrius Woodward, was indicted by a grand jury in federal court in Bridgeport, said Vanessa Roberts, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and James Ferguson, special agent in charge of the ATF Boston Field Division, in a news release Tuesday.

Johnson pleaded not guilty before a judge in Hartford. He has been in custody on state charges since his arrest on November 21, 2022.

Johnson, a felon convicted of participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy, was sentenced in federal court in November 2014 to 60 months in prison, followed by five years of probation.

He left prison in January 2018 and was arrested while on parole for stealing catalytic converters. During a search of his home, police allegedly found a Ruger 57 semi-automatic pistol, a Glock 31 semi-automatic pistol, a Ruger LCP pistol, ammunition, approximately 89 grams of cocaine and pills containing MDMA.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Waterbury Police Department, with assistance from the Brookfield Police Department, investigated the case. The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together different levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime.