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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2008

Meriden Man Sentenced to 38 Months in Federal Prison for Dealing Crack Cocaine

JUN 20 -- 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 O’NEAL WARD, 41, of Hall Avenue, Meriden, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Peter C. Dorsey in New Haven to 38 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”). WARD pleaded guilty to the charge on September 11, 2007. According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, the charge against WARD stems from intercepted telephone conversations between him and Milton Roman, who was the target of a wiretap investigation between April and June 2006. During the course of the conspiracy, WARD purchased between five and 20 grams of crack cocaine from Roman and redistributed it to others in Meriden. On October 4, 2006, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging WARD, Roman and 33 others. 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 20-year mandatory minimum term of incarceration. WARD has been detained since his arrest on October 6, 2006. This investigation was a collaborative effort of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Meriden Police Department.