New Britain Man Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Distribution Offense, Admits Violating Supervised Release

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that AKEEM MANOO, 34, of New Britain, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to possessing with intent to distribute cocaine.  He also admitted that he committed the offense while on supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 26, 2016, Manoo was sentenced in New Haven federal court to 120 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release for his participation in a gang-related narcotics trafficking conspiracy.  He was released from federal prison in November 2022.  On May 11, 2023, Manoo was arrested after Hartford Police stopped his vehicle and found him in possession of nearly a half-kilogram of cocaine.

Judge Oliver scheduled sentencing for January 22, at which time Manoo faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for the cocaine distribution offenses, and a maximum term of imprisonment of five years for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

Manoo is detained pending sentencing.

This investigation has been conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and the Hartford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan J. Keefe.