News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2008

Meriden Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Federal Prison for Dealing Cocaine

JAN 15 -- June W. Stansbury, Special Agent 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 LEANDA PERRY, 28, of Liberty Street, Meriden, Connecticut, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Peter C. Dorsey in New Haven to 96 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”). PERRY pleaded guilty to the charge on May 15, 2007. According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, the charge against PERRY stems from intercepted telephone conversations between him and Milton Roman, who was the target of a wiretap investigation between April and June 2006. During the course of the conspiracy, PERRY purchased between 50 and 150 grams of crack cocaine and additional quantities of powder cocaine from Roman, and redistributed both crack and powder cocaine to others in Middletown. PERRY has been detained since his federal arrest on October 6, 2006. He has unrelated pending matters in the Superior Courts in Meriden and Middletown. On October 4, 2006, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging PERRY, Roman and 33 others. On December 13, 2007, Roman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine and five kilograms or more of powder cocaine. He awaits sentencing and faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 20 years. This investigation was a collaborative effort of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Meriden Police Department.