New Haven 'Crack Dealer' Gets 5-Year Prison Bid: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT — Jerry Rollins, 27, of New Haven was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine, according to Connecticut U.S. Attorney Leonard C. Boyle.

According to Boyle, the case against Rollins stems from an FBI New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force and New Haven Police Department investigation into narcotics trafficking in the Hill section of New Haven.

The investigation included court-authorized wiretaps and multiple controlled purchases of crack, per court documents and statements made in court, Boyle said. Between July and September 2020, investigators made five controlled purchases of crack from Rollins and intercepted communications subsequently confirmed that Rollins was selling distribution quantities of crack to other street-level dealers, federal prosecutors said.

Arrested on Jan. 26, 2021, a search of Rollins' home found crack, narcotics processing and packaging materials, and more than $9,000 in cash, per prosecutors.

Held since he was arrested, last October, Rollins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, crack, Boyle said.

The FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force includes members from the New Haven,East Haven, Milford, and Hamden police departments, Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Department of Correction.

The DEA and the West Haven Police Department assisted the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile and Marc H. Silverman through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program. It "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," per the Justice Department.