Man Guilty Of Distributing Crack in Hamden, New Haven

From the office of  David B. Fein, United States Attorney:

A New Haven man was convicted Thursday in federal court of being part of a crack cocaine ring which used high school age to distribute the drugs, according to court officials.

A jury found James Dickerson, also known as “Jim Jim,” 30, of New Haven, guilty of conspiracy to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”) and distribution of crack cocaine.  The jury returned the verdict today following a four-day trial before Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns.       

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.             

In July and August 2010, Dickerson was regularly intercepted over the wiretap arranging to meet one of Jackson’s associates at locations in Newhallville to purchase two “8-balls” (7 grams) of crack cocaine each time.  Dickerson then divided the crack into $20 baggies, which he sold to his own customers.

On Oct. 13, 2010, Dickerson was videotaped selling $300 worth of crack cocaine to an undercover police officer. At trial, Dickerson 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 him on both the conspiracy count and the distribution count.        

Judge Burns has scheduled sentencing for July 18.  Based on the government’s filing of a second offender notice indicating that Dickerson has a previous conviction for a felony drug offense, he faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.       

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