New Haven Man Sentenced to More Than Eight Years for Role in Crack Cocaine Trafficking Ring

Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Manokus Fields, also known as “Fresh,” 30, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 97 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for selling crack cocaine. On March 1, 2013, a jury found Fields guilty of conspiracy to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

According to statements made in court and the evidence disclosed during the trial, this matter stems from a joint law enforcement investigation conducted in 2010 by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets Task Force, the DEA New Haven Task Force, the New Haven Police Department, and the Hamden Police Department. Through the use of court-authorized wiretaps, investigating officers identified and dismantled a large drug trafficking organization that was headed by Joseph Jackson, also known as “Mighty” and “M.I.,” and centered in the Newhallville section of New Haven and Hamden. The investigation revealed that Jackson used “young boys,” some of whom were still in high school, to distribute large quantities of crack cocaine.

From June through October 2010, Fields was regularly intercepted over the wiretap arranging to meet one of Jackson’s associates at locations in Fairhaven and Newhallville to purchase “8-ball” quantities (3.5 grams) of crack cocaine. Fields then divided the crack into $10 and $20 baggies, which he sold to his own customers.

At trial, Fields maintained that he bought crack cocaine from the members of the conspiracy but was not a conspirator himself. The jury rejected this defense and convicted Fields on the conspiracy count, which was the only charge against him.

Forty-seven individuals have been charged in federal court with various narcotics offenses as a result of this investigation. All have been convicted.

On June 18, 2013, Jackson was sentenced to 300 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets Task Force (composed of members of the New Haven, Milford and Hamden Police Departments, and the Connecticut Department of Correction), the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force (composed of members of the New Haven, West Haven, Meriden, Ansonia, Hamden, and Branford Police Departments), along with substantial participation by members of the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments. The United States Marshals Service also has assisted the investigation.

The investigation was funded in significant part by the United States Attorney’s Office Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and supported by the Office’s Project Safe Neighborhoods and Anti-Gang programs.

This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher M. Mattei and Robert M. Spector.