Date: September 15, 2021 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Keilah Boria of New Haven, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to nine months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for narcotics trafficking and money laundering offenses. According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2019, the DEA New Haven Task Force began an investigation into a New Haven-based drug trafficking network headed by Michael Smith, also known as "Head." The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps, revealed that Smith and others were distributing heroin and crack cocaine throughout the New Haven area, and that Boria maintained bank accounts that Smith used to launder the cash proceeds of his drug trafficking activity. From 2016 to 2019, Boria deposited more than $200,000 in cash into the bank accounts. Smith spent some of the drug proceeds to pay for rental cars that he used to transport narcotics and to travel to meet his drug customers. In December 2019, Smith was intercepted on a wiretap describing having shot at a rival drug dealer. New Haven Police collected 31 shell casings from a location in the Fair Haven neighborhood where the shooting occurred. Smith was arrested on December 23, 2019. Boria was arrested on September 16, 2020. On April 14, 2021, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute heroin and cocaine base ("crack"), and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Boria, who is released on a $150,000 bond, is required to report to prison on November 12, 2021. Smith, who has been detained since his arrest, pleaded guilty to drug, firearm and money laundering charges on April 15, 2021. He awaits sentencing. This investigation is being conducted by the DEA New Haven Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and the New Haven, West Haven, Hamden, East Haven, North Haven, Ansonia, Meriden and Derby Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Pierpont, Jr. and Elena L. Coronado through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
