James Grant, Heroin Trafficking, Connecticut 2022

A Waterbury man has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for his role in a heroin trafficking organization.

James Grant, 58, also known as ‘Bobo,’ ‘Bo,’ and ‘Jimbo,’ was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford on charges of distributing heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the DEA New Haven Task Force and Waterbury Police Department began an investigation into a drug trafficking organization in May 2020. The investigation included court-authorized wiretaps on multiple phones used by members of the organization, physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, and motor vehicle stops that resulted in the seizure of drugs.

The investigation revealed that Grant received heroin and cocaine from other members of the conspiracy, converted some of the cocaine into crack, and then sold the drugs to other distributors and users.

On March 1, 2021, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Grant and 16 others. On January 24, 2022, Grant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, and cocaine base (‘crack’).

Grant has been detained since January 21, 2021. This investigation has been conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force and the Waterbury Police Department. The DEA New Haven Task Force includes participants from the U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Meriden, Derby, Middletown, Naugatuck, and Waterbury Police Departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick F. Caruso and Brendan Keefe through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.

U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Judicial District of Waterbury for its close cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.

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