News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2005

Bridgeport Cocaine Dealer Receives 5-Year Federal Prison Term

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 LUIS ANTONIO VILLANUEVA, age 44, of 1368 Iranistan Avenue, Bridgeport, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. VILLANUEVA pleaded guilty to the charge on November 2, 2004.

VILLANUEVA was arrested in February 2004 as part of a long-term investigation spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration into the distribution of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, "crack" cocaine and marijuana in Bridgeport and the surrounding area. During the investigation, the DEA Task Force obtained court-authorized wiretaps for several different telephones used by members of this drug organization, including Luis Quiles. As revealed in court proceedings, the wiretaps exposed a vast organization headed by Quiles, which was responsible for the distribution of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine each week on the streets of Bridgeport and surrounding towns. VILLANUEVA admitted that he operated as a lower-level narcotics distributor, buying multi-ounce quantities of cocaine from Quiles for re-sale on the street.

Seized during the investigation were approximately eight kilograms of cocaine, nearly 300 grams of crack cocaine, several firearms and approximately $1 million in drug proceeds. On June 1, 2005, Judge Underhill sentenced Quiles to 180 months of imprisonment.