Maine Resident Sentenced to Nearly Six Years in Federal Prison for Role in Northeastern Connecticut Drug Ring

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARTIN MERRILL, also known as “MJ,” 24, of Newport, Maine, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 70 months of imprisonment, followed by six years of supervised release, for his involvement in a narcotics distribution ring. On July 14, 2009, MERRILL pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine.

The charge against MERRILL stems from “Operation Quiet Corner,” a 12-month, FBI and Connecticut State Police investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating primarily in northeastern Connecticut. The investigation included the use of confidential informants, controlled purchases of drugs, and court-authorized telephone wiretaps. On April 9, 2008, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging MERRILL and 21 other individuals with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in February and March 2008, MERRILL traveled to northeastern Connecticut to purchase large quantities of cocaine from a co-defendant, which MERRILL then re-sold to his own customers in Maine. For example, on February 29, 2008, an intercepted telephone call revealed that MERRILL purchased 500 grams of cocaine and two pounds of marijuana from his co-defendant.

MERRILL engaged in this narcotics trafficking while released on bail following separate arrests in Maine for, among other things, driving under the influence and possession of cocaine. These charges remain pending.

MERRILL has been detained in federal custody since his arrest on April 11, 2008.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Statewide Cooperative Crime Control Task Force and the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force of the Connecticut State Police, with assistance from the Hartford Police Department and Connecticut State Police, Troop D. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.