Thompson Man Sentenced to Six Years in Federal Prison for Role in Drug Trafficking Organization

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RYAN PRENTISS, 25, of Thompson, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. On August 18, 2009, PRENTISS pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

According to court documents and statements made in court, in approximately March 2007, the FBI and Connecticut State Police initiated “Operation Quiet Corner,” an investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating primarily in northeastern Connecticut. The investigation, which included the use of confidential informants, controlled purchases of drugs and court-authorized telephone wiretaps, revealed that Kenneth Gould of Putnam and Carlos Rodriguez of Hartford and Putnam pooled their money to purchase kilogram quantities of cocaine from sources of supply in New York. They then distributed the cocaine to several other individuals who sold it, or crack cocaine, to their own customers in northeastern Connecticut, in the Hartford area, and in other New England states. Gould organized and coordinated the purchase of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from his sources and the delivery of the cocaine to Connecticut.

Calls that were intercepted during the investigation revealed that, in January and February 2008, PRENTISS obtained a total of 324 grams of crack cocaine from Gould or another member of the conspiracy for distribution to his own customers.

As a result of the investigation, a total of 22 individuals were charged with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.

PRENTISS has been detained since his arrest on August 11, 2008.

Gould and Rodriguez also pleaded guilty to cocaine conspiracy charges. On April 15, 2010, Gould was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment. On September 1, 2009, Rodriguez was sentenced to 188 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Statewide Cooperative Crime Control Task Force and the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force of the Connecticut State Police, with assistance from the Hartford Police Department and Connecticut State Police, Troop D. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.