News Release [print-friendly version]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2008

Meriden Man Sentenced To Five Years In Federal Prison For Dealing Crack Cocaine

APR 4 -- June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New England and Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RAUL REYES, 32, of Liberty Street, Meriden, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Peter C. Dorsey in New Haven to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for distribution of 50 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”). REYES pleaded guilty to the charge on April 12, 2007.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, the charge against REYES stems from an investigation involving several individuals dealing crack cocaine in and around Meriden, including Milton Roman, who was the target of a federal wiretap investigation between April and June 2006. REYES twice was involved in distributing multi-ounce quantities of crack cocaine to another individual in November 2005. Those transactions occurred in the Bocci Club in Meriden.

On October 4, 2006, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging REYES, Roman, and 33 others. REYES was in state custody starting March 1, 2006 on an unrelated state charge, and was transferred into federal custody after the return of the Indictment in this case.

On December 13, 2007, Roman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine and five kilograms or more of powder cocaine. He awaits sentencing and faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

This investigation was a collaborative effort of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Meriden Police Department.