CT Fentanyl Dealer Tied To 2 Overdose Deaths Gets Prison Time

An Ansonia-based fentanyl distributor connected to two southern Connecticut overdose deaths was sentenced Monday to more than a decade in prison.

Daqwon Graham, 31, of Ansonia, must serve 130 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for a fentanyl trafficking offense, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver imposed the sentence on Graham, who goes by the street names of “Seagull” and “Energy,” during a proceeding in Hartford.

Law enforcement connected Graham’s drug trafficking to two overdose deaths, including of a man in Branford in March 2023 and a woman in Shelton in October 2024, prosecutors said.

Graham pleaded guilty on July 23 to possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and the Stamford Police Department identified Graham as a large-scale fentanyl distributor in and around Fairfield County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Undercover investigators made multiple purchases of fentanyl mixed with xylazine from Graham earlier this year, prosecutors said. Xylazine is a tranquilizer, and it has been linked to drug overdose deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Police arrested Graham in February in Stamford, after they coordinated a purchase of a large quantity of fentanyl from him. Officers found fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine in his possession, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.