Date: April 13, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Keon Council of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 18 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin. According to court documents and statements made in court, in May 2020, the DEA New Haven Task Force and Waterbury Police Department began an investigation into a drug trafficking organization that was distributing large amounts of heroin, cocaine and crack in the Waterbury area. The investigation included court-authorized wiretaps on multiple phones used by members of the organization, physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, and motor vehicle stops that resulted in the seizure of drugs. In November and December 2020, Council was intercepted multiple times on a wiretap ordering distribution quantities of heroin from James Grant, also known as "Bobo," "Bo," and "Jimbo," Council then sold the drugs to his own customers. On March 1, 2021, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Council, Grant and 15 others. On December 10, 2021, Council pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin. Council has been detained since his arrest on March 3, 2021. On that date, law enforcement executed seven search warrants and seized approximately 40,000 bags of suspected heroin, 350 grams of cocaine and 50 grams of crack cocaine, and nine firearms Grant pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. This investigation has been conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force and the Waterbury Police Department. The DEA New Haven Task Force includes participants from the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Marshals Service, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Meriden, Derby, Middletown, Naugatuck and Waterbury Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick F. Caruso and Brendan Keefe 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. U.S. Attorney Boyle thanked the State's Attorney's Office for the Judicial District of Waterbury for its close cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.
