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Press Release

Crack Dealers Sentenced to Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that two men involved in a New Haven-based drug trafficking organization were sentenced today in Hartford federal court.  U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant sentenced MARVIN SPRUILL, 27, of West Haven, to 57 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and CARNELL EDWARDS, 49, of Bridgeport, to 30 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in June 2017, the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force initiated an investigation into a New Haven drug trafficking organization headed by Jermayne Butler.  The investigation, which included physical surveillance, 13 controlled purchases of narcotics, and court-authorized wiretaps on multiple phones, revealed that members of the organization were distributing crack cocaine and oxycodone in and around New Haven.  Both Spruill and Edwards purchased crack from other members of the conspiracy and sold the drug in smaller quantities to their own customers.

Butler, Spruill, Edwards and several other members of the organization were arrested on federal criminal complaints on February 6, 2018.  On February 8, 2018, a grand jury in New Haven returned a 30-count indictment charging 19 individuals with various offenses.

Spruill and Edwards each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, cocaine base “crack.”

Butler also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force, which includes members from the New Haven Police Department, Milford Police Department, West Haven Police Department and Connecticut Department of Correction.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick F. Caruso and David C. Nelson.

Updated January 29, 2020

Topic
Drug Trafficking