Norwalk Man Sentenced In Federal Drug Trafficking Case

NORWALK, CT — A 40-year-old Norwalk man, who pleaded guilty in connection with a 2018 federal drug trafficking case, was sentenced Monday to 24 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, according to United States Attorney John H. Durham.

Donald Lawlor was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford for his role in a southern Connecticut drug trafficking organization. He was arrested on in early November 2018. In September 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of use of a telephone to facilitate a narcotics trafficking offense.

According to prosecutors, court documents and statements, in the summer of 2017, members of the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and Bridgeport Police Department began investigating individuals who were distributing narcotics in and around Bridgeport.

The investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps and controlled drug purchases, which led to federal charges against 19 defendants. Additionally, authorities seized narcotics, items used to process and package drugs for street sale, eight firearms, and more than $360,000 in cash.

Prosecutors said that Lawlor was intercepted numerous times on recorded calls assisting the drug trafficking activities of an associate who, from at least January 2017 until November 2019. That associate was distributing heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, other opioids, cocaine and crack cocaine in and around Bridgeport, according to authorities.

Lawlor, who is released on a $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison on September 30, according to authorities.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department, as well as the DEA, Connecticut State Police, and the Stratford, Norwalk, Seymour and Trumbull Police Departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen L. Peck and Patrick J. Doherty.