News Release
For Immediate Release:
April 27, 2010
Contact: Special Agent Tony Pettigrew
Number: 617-557-2138

Norwalk Man Sentenced To Three Years In Federal Prison For Selling Crack Cocaine

APR 27 -- Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JEAN ANDRE, 30, of Oak Street, Norwalk, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine. On January 29, 2010, ANDRE pleaded guilty to one count of using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

This matter stems from an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) investigation dubbed “Operation Big Loot,” a six-month investigation that was spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Stamford Police Department’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad. As a result of the investigation, a total of 51 individuals have been charged in state and federal court with various narcotics offenses related to the distribution of cocaine and crack cocaine in the greater Stamford area. During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized approximately $164,000 in cash, more than one kilogram of cocaine and approximately 750 grams of crack cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on multiple occasions in October 2009, ANDRE purchased a total of approximately 35 grams of crack cocaine, which he then sold in smaller quantities for profit. At the time, ANDRE had been released on bond in connection with an unrelated state case involving his alleged sale of marijuana.

ANDRE has been detained since his arrest on December 3, 2009. The state case is still pending.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force – which is composed of members of the Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk and Stratford Police Departments, and the Connecticut State Police – the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Stamford Police Department’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad. The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, and the Norwalk, Bridgeport, Darien, Greenwich and Danbury Police Departments assisted in the arrests of several of the defendants.