News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2005

NEW HAVEN MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL DRUG CHARGE

Conviction is 28th related to Spring 2004 New Haven Drug Task Force
take-down

Mark R. Trouville, 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 DEPAUL CRUDUP, also known as "Pace," age 32, formerly of 319 Morse Street, New Haven, Connecticut has pleaded guilty to federal narcotics conspiracy charges. United States District Judge Janet C. Hall accepted CRUDUP's plea of guilty on March 2. Judge Hall has scheduled sentencing for May 24, 2005, at which time CRUDUP faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years, a maximum term of 40 years and a fine of up to $2 million.

The charges against CRUDUP arose out of an investigation conducted by the New Haven Drug Task Force, which is composed of agents and officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the New Haven and West Haven Police Departments. According to information disclosed in court proceedings, in late 2003, the Task Force began an investigation into the distribution of crack cocaine throughout the New Haven area by JULIUS MOORNING and his associates. A variety of traditional and sophisticated investigative techniques were employed by the Task Force, including
court-authorized wiretaps, seizures of crack and the seizure of more than $88,000 stored in a safe. The investigation disclosed that MOORNING and his associates, EDWARD HINES, RODNEY NELSON and MICHELLE GROOM, were obtaining large quantities of crack and powder cocaine and transporting it to New Haven for resale. The crack and cocaine was then sold to local distributors in the Newhallville, Dwight-Kensington, Hill, Fair Haven, Eastern Circle, Westville, Brookside and West Hills sections of New Haven, and in Derby and West Haven, Connecticut.

MOORNING, HINES, NELSON and GROOM were arrested on April 20, 2004, on a Complaint alleging federal drug conspiracy charges and have been ordered detained since their arrest. They were subsequently indicted on federal drug conspiracy charges along with 45 other individuals,
including CRUDUP. Other arrests in the case began on May 4, 2004, resulting in the arrest of a total of 48 individuals. One defendant remains a fugitive.To date, 28 individuals charged in this matter have entered pleas of guilty.

If convicted, each defendant faces a term of imprisonment of ten years to life in prison. U.S. Attorney O'Connor stressed that the indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which it is the Government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

One indicted defendant has yet to be apprehended:

BEN TISDALE, a/k/a "Killer,"
DOB 12/9/76
25 West Street, New Haven

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys H. Gordon Hall and Alina P. Reynolds of the U.S. Attorney's Office's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force