John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that SHAMAR MADDEN, also known as “Sheist," 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between August 2016 and February 2017, MADDEN, Malek Long and others conspired to use the U.S. Mail to ship substantial quantities of marijuana from California to New Haven, and then distribute the marijuana throughout the area. MADDEN regularly traveled from Georgia to Connecticut to pick up his share of the cash proceeds from the marijuana trafficking enterprise.
On Feb. 22, 2017, MADDEN, who was traveling back to Georgia, was stopped at LaGuardia Airport in New York in possession of $19,740 in cash. On that date, investigators also searched two storage lockers that Long maintained at a self-storage facility in West Haven and seized approximately $404,000 in cash.
Judge Underhill scheduled sentencing for July 23, 2018, at which time MADDEN faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.
MADDEN is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.
On May 12, 2017, Long, of New Haven, pleaded guilty to the same charge. On Dec. 12, 2017, he was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment.
This investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, New Haven Police Department and Connecticut Department of Correction. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney H. Gordon Hall.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
