Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut
Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Jimmy Lassus, 40, from Wethersfield, has been sentenced to 100 months in prison. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport and includes three years of supervised release following imprisonment. Lassus was found guilty of distributing fentanyl and oxycodone to a victim who overdosed.
Court documents reveal that on October 6, 2023, Meriden Police responded to a suspected overdose call at a residence where they found a 27-year-old woman unresponsive. She was taken to the hospital but pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Investigations showed that Lassus had been supplying the victim with drugs over several months leading up to her death. Text messages indicated that he provided her with oxycodone and fentanyl, which she consumed hours before her death. The victim mentioned in text messages and a journal entry that it was her first time using fentanyl.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner concluded that the cause of death was acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, benzodiazepines, xylazine, and oxycodone.
Lassus has been detained since his arrest on April 11, 2024. He pleaded guilty on September 30, 2024, to charges related to the distribution of fentanyl and oxycodone.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force and Meriden Police Department with support from Wethersfield Police Department. The Task Force comprises members from various law enforcement agencies such as DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police along with several local police departments.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan Keefe and Reed Durham prosecuted the case.
