News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2006

Ansonia Crack Dealer Sentenced to 15 Years In Federal Prison

SEP 11 -- June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New England and Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that OSBORNE A. TATE, age 43, of 79 Elm Street, Ansonia, Connecticut, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 180 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. On January 10, 2006, TATE pleaded guilty to possession of 138 grams of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, on November 11, 2003, after an Ansonia police officer stopped the automobile TATE was driving because the car was not properly registered in Connecticut, TATE threw a punch at the officer and began to fight. As TATE and the officer struggled on the ground, TATE reached into the waist band of his pants, took out two bundles and threw them away. One bundle was grabbed by another individual, who then escaped, while the other bundle was secured by a second police officer on the scene. The bundle retrieved by the officer was later determined to contain almost five ounces of crack.

After his arrest, officers frisked TATE and found two additional one-eighth ounce packages, referred to as “eight balls,” in TATE’s jacket pocket and $2,579 in cash in his pants pocket. TATE’s car was later searched and a quantity of marijuana and an electronic scale coated with crack cocaine residue were found in the back seat.

This case was investigated by officers of the Ansonia Police Department with assistance from agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.