United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WATERBURY, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JAMES GRANT, also known as “Bobo,” “Bo,” and “Jimbo,” 58, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for distributing heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in May 2020, the DEA New Haven Task Force and Waterbury Police Department began an investigation into a drug trafficking organization that was distributing large amounts of heroin, cocaine and crack in the Waterbury area.  The investigation included court-authorized wiretaps on multiple phones used by members of the organization, physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, and motor vehicle stops that resulted in the seizure of drugs.  The investigation revealed that Grant received heroin and cocaine from other members of the conspiracy, converted some of the cocaine into crack, and then sold the drugs to other distributors and users.

On March 1, 2021, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Grant and 16 others.  On January 24, 2022, Grant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and cocaine base (“crack”).

Grant has been detained since January 21, 2021.

This investigation has been conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force and the Waterbury Police Department.  The DEA New Haven Task Force includes participants from the U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Meriden, Derby, Middletown, Naugatuck and Waterbury Police Departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick F. Caruso and Brendan Keefe through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

U.S. Attorney Roberts Avery thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Judicial District of Waterbury for its close cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.