New Haven Man Gets More than Eight Years for Selling Crack

From the U.S. Attorney's Office:

Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns on Tuesday sentenced a New Haven man to more than eight years in prison for his role in a crack cocaine ring that supplied many in Hamden and New Haven.

James Jenkins, also known as “Black,” 31, of New Haven, was sentenced to 100 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine, according to District Court officials.       

Jenkins is one of 47 people convicted as a result of a joint law enforcement investigation conducted 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. 

The investigation utilized court-authorized wiretaps, allowing investigating officers to identify and dismantled a large drug-trafficking organization that was centered in the Newhallville section of New Haven and Hamden, and was responsible for the distribution of crack cocaine and cocaine throughout the Greater New Haven area.       

According to court documents and statements made in court, from June through October 2010, Jenkins was intercepted repeatedly over a wiretap ordering distribution quantities of crack cocaine from other members of the drug trafficking organization.  He then sold the drug to his own customer base for profit.       

On Jan. 28, 2013, Jenkins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).