Man Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison For Role In Southeastern Connecticut Drug Ring

NORWICH, CT - Court officials said a New York man was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for his alleged role in a southeastern Connecticut drug ring. The suspect, 33-year old John King of Queens, New York, is charged with trafficking heroin and crack cocaine, according to a release.

Officials said that King and others regularly acquired kilogram quantities of cocaine and heroin from sources in New York and transported the drugs to southeastern Connecticut. Much of the cocaine was converted to crack cocaine and the drugs were distributed through a network of dealers in Groton, Norwich, New London, Stonington and the surrounding area.

King used an apartment on East Main Street in Norwich to store, process and package narcotics for street sale. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

On April 28, 2015, police seized approximately 150 grams of crack cocaine and approximately 80 grams of heroin from the apartment. Officers subsequently searched a vehicle parked outside of the stash house that was registered to King and seized a kilogram of cocaine, police said.

Officials said King was already incarcerated and awaiting sentencing in New York at the time of the drug seizure after previously having pleaded guilty to assaulting another individual. Recorded prison calls revealed King continued to run his narcotics trafficking enterprise while incarcerated, police said.

King and 12 other defendants were charged in November 2015 with various narcotics trafficking and firearm offenses. King pleaded guilty on March 8 to distributing 280 grams or more of "crack" cocaine.

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