4 Pending Federal Cases Against Alleged Drug Dealers in CT Include Weston Overdose

By RICH SCINTO (Patch Staff)

Multiple federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are combining efforts to go after dealers that sell heroin, fentanyl and other opioids that lead to the death or serious injury of users in Connecticut.

The Drug Enforcement Agency along with prosecutors and state and local police are investigating about 20 heroin and other opioid overdoses that have occurred in Connecticut. Most cases ended in death.

There are ongoing investigations in Danbury, Derby, Enfield, Greenwich, Middletown, Newtown, New Haven, Norwalk, Norwich, Shelton, Stamford, Vernon, Weston, Willimantic and Woodbridge.

"This statewide initiative will enable law enforcement to quickly determine if a highly toxic drug is on the street and take steps to identify the source of the drug in order to keep it out of the hands of vulnerable users," said U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly "The police protocol will allow investigators to preserve evidence critical to identifying and convicting those responsible for distributing these drugs."

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A protocol has been developed that will start with local law enforcement preserving evidence at the scene of an overdose death. Police are asked to contact the DEA during the early stages of the investigation and assure an autopsy is performed on the victim. The DEA and local police then jointly investigate to determine the source of the drug involved.

Individuals responsible for distributing drugs causing overdose deaths will then be prosecuted.

“We hope that the use of this protocol will enable law enforcement to effectively track the source of the most dangerous brands of heroin being distributed in Connecticut,” said Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Boyle.

Federal charges have been levied against the following individuals:

• Reginald Miles, Jr., 25, of Waterbury, Wade Pettingill, 23, of Middlebury, and Kevin Foster, 23, of Middlebury, in connection with the heroin overdose death of a 22-year-old man in Woodbridge on November 19, 2015;
• Tahir Farid, 21, and Ryan Looney, 19, both of Hamden, in connection with the oxycodone overdose of a 22-year-old man in Weston on January 5, 2016;
• Bradley Commerford, 20, of Derby, in connection with the heroin overdose death of a 23-year-old man in Derby on February 17, 2016, and two non-fatal heroin overdoses of an 18-year-old man and a 22-year-old man in Shelton on February 16, 2016;
• Ryan Budd, 25, of Bethel, in connection with a non-fatal heroin overdose of a 25-year-old female in Danbury on March 1, 2016.

The DEA has received funding to help investigate opioid overdoses.

The U.S. Attorney’s office will continue to work with law enforcement to take down large-scale distributors of opioids.

On March 2, 2016, a federal grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment charging a Hartford grocery store owner and two associates with trafficking heroin. During the investigation, investigators seized more than 20 kilograms of heroin destined for Connecticut and approximately $900,000 in cash.

In another ongoing investigation, 11 New Haven-area residents were recently charged with conspiring to steal the personal identification information of over 50 doctors and medical professionals in order to create fraudulent prescriptions to obtain and distribute more than 100,000 oxycodone pills.

Medical professionals who prescribe narcotics outside of the scope of medical practice will also be prosecuted.

On November 4, 2015, John Katsetos, a doctor who practiced medicine for more than 20 years in Stamford and Milford was sentenced to 84 months in prison. The investigation revealed that from November 2011 to October 2013, Dr. Katsetos authorized more than two million dosage units of Schedule II through IV controlled substances to more than 2000 patients.

His conduct created opioid addictions in dozens of patients, led to the overdose death of a New York woman, and supplied individuals with a vast quantity of prescription pills that they illegally distributed to others.

Image via Norwich Police