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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2007

East Hartford Man Pleads Guilty To Distributing Ecstasy
Possessed 32,000 Pills When Arrested

AUG 15 -- June W. Stansbury, 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 DANIEL DRUMMOND, age 36, formerly of 252 Ellington Road, East Hartford, Connecticut, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to one count of possession with the intent to distribute MDMA, more commonly known as “ecstasy.”

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, from September 2005 through April 2006, DRUMMOND distributed large quantities of ecstasy to others in Connecticut, which he obtained from a source in Canada. On April 11, 2006, law enforcement officers arrested DRUMMOND as he was carrying 20,000 ecstasy pills from a New Britain apartment that he had been using as a stash house. Officers then obtained a search warrant and discovered an additional 12,000 ecstasy pills inside the Bristol apartment. In addition, law enforcement officers seized approximately $80,000 in cash that had been stored in DRUMMOND’s East Hartford residence.

The case against DRUMMOND was part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) investigation dubbed “Operation Viper,” which was spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Hartford, and which has led to the seizure of approximately 85,000 ecstasy pills, more than $150,000 in United States currency, four luxury vehicles, more than 30 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and one piece of residential property.

Judge Thompson has scheduled sentencing for November 5, 2007, at which time DRUMMOND faces a maximum term of imprisonment 20 years and a fine of up to $1,000,000. DRUMMOND has been detained in federal custody since his initial presentment in federal court on March 2, 2007.

This case was investigated by the Hartford Resident Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the New Britain Police Department, the Manchester Police Department and the East Hartford Police Department.