Connecticut Man Jailed More than 15 Years for Drug and Gun Crimes
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that yesterday Bernard Doherty, 31, of New Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced in United States District Court in Burlington to 188 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine and conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. United States District Court Judge William K. Sessions III also ordered Doherty to serve five years of federal supervised release after his imprisonment ends.
According to court records, Doherty conspired with at least six others to distribute crack cocaine, heroin, and other drugs in the Windsor area from the spring 2007 until January 2009. Doherty served as a leader of the group, which distributed more than 10 kilograms of crack cocaine and 240 grams of heroin in Windsor. Doherty and his coconspirators also acquired and carried firearms in furtherance of their drug dealing.
United States Attorney Tristram J. Coffin commended the joint investigation by the Vermont Drug Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Doherty was represented by Burlington attorney Mark Kaplan. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig Nolan.
U.S. Attorney Coffin noted also that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood, a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and ATF, Project Safe Neighborhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who violate federal gun laws. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhood and Project Safe Vermont, please visit: www.psn.gov.
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