Feds: A Connecticut drug dealer has to forfeit about $165,000 in jewelry and a Mercedes

Staff, Hartford Courant
·1 min read

A Hamden man was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for fentanyl distribution offenses, according to federal authorities.

Darryl Small, 34, also must serve five years of supervised release, according to federal authorities.

Authorities, citing court documents and statements made in court, said the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force began investigating Small “after receiving information that he was distributing heroin and fentanyl in and around New Haven.”

In December 2020 and January 2021, investigators “conducted multiple controlled purchases of fentanyl from Small,” federal authorities said in a statement.

Then, when Small was arrested on Feb. 24, 2021. a court-authorized search of his Hamden residence revealed “$24,134 in cash and approximately $165,000 in jewelry,” authorities said in the statement. 

U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley ordered Small to forfeit the cash and jewelry, and Small’s 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300, which was seized at the time of his arrest, the statement said.

Small has been in custody since his arrest and he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 40 grams or more of fentanyl on March 7.