New Haven Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal Prison for Distributing Crack

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Ernest Harold, also known as “Nesto,” 21, of New Haven, was sentenced yesterday by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine.

This matter stems from a joint law enforcement investigation conducted by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets Task Force, the DEA New Haven Task Force, the New Haven Police Department, and the Hamden Police Department. Through the use of court-authorized wiretaps, investigating officers identified and dismantled a large drug-trafficking organization that was centered in the Newhallville section of New Haven and Hamden and was responsible for the distribution of crack cocaine and cocaine throughout the Greater New Haven area.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from August through September 2010, Harold was repeatedly intercepted over a wiretap ordering distribution quantities of crack cocaine from other members of the drug trafficking organization. He then sold the crack to his own customers for profit.

On January 18, 2012, Harold pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

Forty-seven individuals have been charged in federal court with various narcotics offenses as a result of this investigation.

This matter was investigated by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets Task Force (composed of members of members of the New Haven, Milford, and Hamden Police Departments and the Connecticut Department of Correction), the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force (composed of members of the New Haven, West Haven, Meriden, Ansonia, Hamden, and Branford Police Departments), along with substantial participation by members of the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments. The United States Marshals Service also has assisted the investigation.

The investigation was funded in significant part by the United States Attorney’s Office Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and supported by the Office’s Project Safe Neighborhoods and Anti-Gang programs.

This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher M. Mattei and Robert M. Spector.