Man Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison for Narcotics Trafficking Offense

Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that ANTHONY PATTERSON, also known as “AP” and “Antonio,” 42, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for attempting to traffic narcotics while he was on supervised release after a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on July 14, 2014, Judge Underhill sentenced Patterson to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  Patterson’s criminal history also includes a conviction for conspiracy to commit murder for his role in the death of a 32-year-old man in Norwalk in 2001.

In 2018, while he was serving his 60-month federal sentence, Patterson approached a fellow inmate to find a person who could help him import narcotics from Mexico into the U.S.  In 2019, after his release from prison and while on supervised release, Patterson travelled to Texas with another convicted felon and negotiated the purchase of five kilograms of cocaine with an undercover DEA agent and a confidential informant.  Patterson was arrested on November 13, 2019, after he met with the undercover agent at a hotel in Connecticut to pick up a kilogram of cocaine.

Patterson has been detained since his arrest.  On November 19, 2020, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, cocaine.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale and Karen L. Peck.