NEW HAVEN, CT —Spotted doing a drug deal from a car in the Hill neighborhood last month by federal agents and New Haven police, Tuesday a 32-year-old local man was arrested on drug and gun charges, prosecutors said.
A federal criminal complaint charges Maurice Menafee of New Haven with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison.
On Feb. 9, members of the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven Police Department Shooting Task Force, saw a car involved in “suspected drug transactions” at the intersection of Baldwin Street and Davenport Avenue, prosecutors said. The driver of the car took off, driving “recklessly at high-rate of speed throughout the city,” per the criminal complaint. Investigators found the car parked at a Plymouth Street house and “identified the driver as Menafee,” prosecutors said. A search of the car found a SIG Sauer P238 .380 caliber pistol, 64 baggies of crack cocaine, and 116 wax folds of fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney.
Menafee was arrested by New Haven police and faces 10 state charges, according to court records. He was released on $250,000 surety bond, records show.
Court records show that he was convicted in 2019 on a gun possession charge. In 2013, he was convicted and served jail time for drug dealing and a gun charge, records show. Federal prosecutors noted in a news release that it is a “violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.”
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.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine E. Boyles and Nathaniel J. Gentile are prosecuting.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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