NEW HAVEN, Conn. - John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Jesus Morales, also known as “Cano," 41, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 63 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin and crack cocaine.
Morales is one of more than 100 individuals charged as a result of “Operation Bloodline," a joint law enforcement investigation targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in the Dwight-Kensington and Fair Haven sections of New Haven. Led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments, the year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps on numerous telephones, extensive physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, execution of search warrants and seizures of narcotics and firearms. The investigation revealed that Morales conspired with others to purchase and redistribute heroin and cocaine (“crack cocaine").
Morales has been detained since his arrest on May 21, 2012. On April 4, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin and cocaine (“crack").
Morales’s criminal history includes five felony convictions for drug offenses and one felony conviction for robbery in the second degree.
This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Ansonia and Meriden Police Departments. The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services and the Milford, Hartford, New Britain, North Branford and Stratford Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.
