United States Drug Enforcement Administration

STAMFORD, Conn. - Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, today announced that a federal grand jury in Bridgeport has returned an indictment charging TASEAN LEMAR BROWN, 35, and STANLEY CHARLES, 44, both of Stamford, with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

The indictment was returned on April 3, 2025, and Brown and Charles were arrested yesterday.  They appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria E. Garcia in New Haven, entered pleas of not guilty to the charge, and were ordered detained.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, an investigation revealed that Brown and Charles were using the U.S. Mail to traffic fentanyl into Connecticut and distribute it in southwestern Connecticut.  The investigation included the seizure of two parcels that Brown mailed to Charles from California and Arizona, the first containing approximately one kilogram of fentanyl powder, and the second containing approximately three kilograms of counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl.

If convicted of the charge in the indictment, Brown and Charles each face a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

Acting U.S. Attorney Silverman stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Connecticut State Police, and the Stamford, Greenwich, Bridgeport, Danbury, Stratford, and Norwalk Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren C. Clark.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).