NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:  Tuesday, August 9, 2005

U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney, District of Connecticut
Connecticut Financial Center
157 Church Street, P.O. Box 1824
New Haven, Connecticut 06510 www.usdoj.gov/usao/ct

CONTACT:  Tom Carson, Public Information Office, (203) 821-3722, (203) 996-1393 (cell)

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NEGUS FORRESTER, age 27, of Hartford, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute more than 1.5 kilograms of cocaine base ("crack" cocaine). United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez accepted FORRESTER's plea of guilty today in Hartford.

This conviction stems from a 10-month investigation, code named "Operation Big Boy," that included federal wiretaps on nine different telephones, months of surveillance, and numerous purchases and seizures of crack cocaine in Hartford. FORRESTER today admitted that he obtained crack cocaine from another defendant in the case and, in turn, gave it to other individuals for distribution in and around Hartford. In November 2004, a law enforcement search of a stash house used by FORRESTER yielded more than 800 grams of crack cocaine.

When he is sentenced by United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson on October 28, 2005, FORRESTER faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a maximum term of life and a fine of up to $4,000,000. According to his plea agreement with the Government, FORRESTER has agreed to a federal sentencing guidelines range of 210 to 262 months of imprisonment.

U.S. Attorney O'Connor complimented the FBI and the Hartford Police Department for their efforts in this case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Raymond F. Miller, Robert M. Spector, and Dave Vatti are prosecuting these cases.

Contact:   Nancy Mulroy, Public Information Officer, Hartford Police Department,  (860) 543-8746
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