United States Drug Enforcement Administration

HARTFORD, Conn. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Isaiah Hart, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 16 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin.  Judge Shea also ordered Hart to perform 96 hours of community service while he is on supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in the early morning of December 8, 2015, Greenwich Police officers and emergency medical personnel responded to a Greenwich residence on the report of an unresponsive man.  The man, who was 26, was pronounced dead.  Within the residence, officers located and found opened and unopened wax (“bags”) with a green colored label “Emerald City” stamped on them. 

The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s Division of Scientific Services later analyzed the unopened bags and determined the powder contained heroin, and according to the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, the victim’s death was caused by acute heroin toxicity.  Investigators determined that, shortly before his death, the victim had contacted “Tony” to order heroin in response to a Craig’s List advertisement for “dog food.”  The victim then drove from Greenwich to Brooklyn and purchased two (20 bags) of heroin from Hart for $185.

Hart was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on April 14, 2016.  On February 22, 2017, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin.  Hart has related drug charges pending in Brooklyn stemming from his selling heroin, in bags stamped “Emerald City,” to an undercover law enforcement officer on December 8, 2015.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5 in King’s Country Supreme Court in Brooklyn and is expected to receive a two-year sentence.  Hart, who had been released on bond, was remanded at the conclusion of this court proceeding.

This matter was investigated by the DEA’s New Haven Task Force and the Greenwich Police Department.  The Task Force includes DEA agents and task force officers from the North Haven, East Haven, West Haven, New Haven, Hamden, Branford, Ansonia, Derby and Meriden Police Departments.  U.S. Attorney Daly also acknowledged the significant assistance of the New York Police Department in this investigation.