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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2004

Bridgeport Man Sentenced for Cocaine Possession

JUN 3 - Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New England and Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANGELO MANDOLFO, age 41, of 37-177 Success Park, Bridgeport, Connecticut, was sentenced today to two years of probation and fined $1,500 as a consequence of his earlier entered plea of guilty to attempted possession of cocaine. Sentence was imposed by United States Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel in federal court in Bridgeport.

U.S. Attorney O'Connor explained that MANDOLFO was arrested on February 11, 2004 when he attempted to purchase cocaine from an officer of the Stratford Police. The Stratford Police Officer was working in conjunction with a Drug Enforcement Administration-led task force at the time. On March 10, 2004, less than one month following his arrest, MANDOLFO entered a plea of guilty to attempted possession of cocaine.

According to court proceedings today, MANDOLFO has had a decade-long cocaine habit that frequently cost him hundreds of dollars to support. Through his counsel, MANDOLFO told Judge Garfinkel that his arrest has had positive consequences. He informed the Court that he has been drug free since the date of his arrest and is an enthusiastic participant in drug counseling. "The intervention of the agents and the Government by [Mandolfo's] arrest has been a transforming event . . . it has tripped the cycle of addiciton."

Conditions of MANDOLFO's probation include drug counseling and that he remain drug free. MANDOLFO was ordered to bear the cost of his drug counseling, to pay a fine of $1,000 and the costs of his investigation and prosecution in the sum of $500. The Court also ordered that MANDOLFO pay a special assessment of $25.00. Finally, pursuant to the plea agreement with the United States Attorney's Office, MANDOLFO was ordered to donate the $210 he was going to use to purchase cocaine on February 11, 2004, to the Stratford DARE program.

This case was investigated by a Drug Enforcement Administration-led task force consisting of federal agents, and officers from the Stratford Police Department, the Bridgeport Police Department and the Stamford Police Department.