United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

PUTNAM DRUG TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KENNETH GOULD, JR., 32, of Putnam, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release.  On November 19, 2009, GOULD pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in approximately March 2007, the FBI and Connecticut State Police initiated “Operation Quiet Corner,” an investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating primarily in northeastern Connecticut.  The investigation, which included the use of confidential informants, controlled purchases of drugs and court-authorized telephone wiretaps, revealed that GOULD and Carlos Rodriguez of Hartford and Putnam pooled their money to purchase kilogram quantities of cocaine from sources of supply in New York.  They then distributed the cocaine to several other individuals who sold it, or crack cocaine, to their own customers in northeastern Connecticut, in the Hartford area, and in other New England states.  GOULD organized and coordinated the purchase of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from his sources and the delivery of the cocaine to Connecticut.  GOULD also purchased large quantities of marijuana, which he sold to others for distribution.

GOULD was arrested on March 31, 2008, after he purchased three kilograms of cocaine from his primary source of supply.

As a result of the investigation, GOULD, Rodriguez and 20 other individuals were charged with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.

On September 1, 2009, Carlos Rodriguez was sentenced to 188 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Statewide Cooperative Crime Control Task Force and the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force of the Connecticut State Police, with assistance from the Hartford Police Department and Connecticut State Police, Troop D.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov