News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2004

Stratford Man Pleads Guilty to Marijuana Conspiracy Charge

JUN 22 - Mark R. Trouville Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement in New England and Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BLAINE BOURNE, age 41, of 455 North Abrams Street, Stratford, Connecticut, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess marijuana. United States Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis accepted BOURNE's plea of guilty yesterday, June 21, in New Haven federal court.

In pleading guilty, BOURNE admitted that on various occasions between May 2003 and early 2004 he acted as a courier for a marijuana trafficking operation. On February 18, 2004, a federal grand jury returned three separate indictments charging BOURNE and 23 other individuals with various narcotics offenses involving the distribution of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, "crack" cocaine and marijuana in Bridgeport and the surrounding area. These charges were the result of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force ("OCDETF") investigation dubbed" Operation Two Terrences," which was spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Bridgeport.

When he is sentenced on September 9, 2004, BOURNE faces up to five years of imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, which is located in Bridgeport and is comprised of DEA special agents, officers from the Bridgeport, Stratford, Easton, Fairfield, Norwalk, Stamford and Greenwich police departments, and members of the Connecticut State Police.