Bridgeport Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to 51 Months in Federal Prison

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL BENNETT, 29, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 51 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2015, the FBI’s Bridgeport State Streets Task Force, Bridgeport Police Department and Connecticut State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force initiated an investigation into several heroin distributors operating in Bridgeport. The investigation, included court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of heroin and physical surveillance, revealed that Kareem Roseboro, also known as “Swiss,” was supplying heroin to other distributors. Roseboro and others used the Stylz Barbershop, located on State Street in Bridgeport, as a hub for their narcotics distribution activity.

The investigation further revealed that BENNETT supplied certain individuals in Roseboro’s network with heroin when Roseboro was unable to do so. In addition, in September and November 2015, investigators conducted two controlled purchases of heroin from BENNETT.

During the course of the investigation, investigators seized multiple “bricks” of heroin, items used in the processing and packaging of heroin, and five firearms. A brick of heroin contains 100 individual dose bags.

On June 6, 2016, a grand jury in Bridgeport returned an eight-count indictment charging BENNETT, Roseboro and five other Bridgeport residents with heroin trafficking offenses. The seven defendants were arrested on June 7, 2016.

BENNETT has been detained since his arrest. On December 21, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, heroin.

BENNETT’s criminal history includes a 2007 state conviction for first degree assault, which stemmed from an incident in which BENNETT shot an individual in the shoulder during a personal dispute. BENNETT was sentenced to 15 years of incarceration, suspended after 117 months, and five years of probation. He was on state probation when he was trafficking heroin that resulted in this federal charge.

Roseboro has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This matter was investigated by the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department, with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Connecticut State Police, Stratford Police Department, Stamford Police Department and the Trumbull Police Department K-9 Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alina P. Reynolds and H. Gordon Hall.