Hamden Man Sentenced In Connection With New Haven Drug Ring: Feds

HAMDEN, CT — A Hamden man with a long criminal history has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for distributing drugs, according to authorities.

Frank Carr, also known as “FL,” 53, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and six months in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release for distributing drugs and violating the conditions of his supervised release from a previous federal conviction, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John H. Durham announced.

The latest conviction stems from an investigation headed by the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force and New Haven Police Department that “targeted drug trafficking and related acts of violence by members, former members and associates of the ‘Island Brothers’ street gang in New Haven,” according to authorities.

The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps and controlled purchases of narcotics, also found that the drug trafficking organization had established a base of operation in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, authorities said.

“The investigation subsequently identified a second drug trafficking network that involved the large-scale distribution of heroin,” officials wrote in a news release. “Investigators developed information that, in March 2019, while Carr was on federal supervised release, he provided a kilogram of cocaine to the leader of one of the drug trafficking networks. In May and June 2019, investigators made multiple controlled purchases of cocaine and crack from Carr, including a purchase of approximately 78 grams of crack from Carr in exchange for $3,000 on May 23, 2019.”

In July, 2019, a grand jury in New Haven returned a 15-count indictment charging Carr and 24 other people with federal narcotics offenses related to the distribution of crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin. Two defendants were added in a superseding indictment that was returned on Nov. 25, 2019. In a subsequent superseding indictment, Carr was charged with attempted obstruction of justice for allegedly asking a potential witness in this case to provide false exculpatory information about Carr, according to officials.

Carr has been detained since his arrest on July 10, 2019. He pleaded guilty in October to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 28 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack”).

Officials said this is Carr’s third federal conviction in Connecticut. He was sentenced in December of 1996 to 60 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In January 2013, he was sentenced to 63 months of imprisonment for distributing heroin. Carr’s criminal history also includes state convictions for manslaughter with a firearm, weapons possession and drug offenses, according to authorities.

Carr was sentenced this week to 120 months in prison for distributing crack, and 24 months of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release. Six months of the 24-month supervised release sentence were imposed consecutively with the 120-month sentence in the underlying case, according to officials.