A federal magistrate rejected a proposal to put up a Fair Haven home as bond collateral for the alleged leader of a local heroin ring, after the government argued the property was used to distribute heroin.
This argument was made at a Friday morning detention hearing at U.S. District Court for a man known as “Pancho,” who was one of 18 Fair Haven neighbors arrested and charged with federal heroin-dealing offenses in an investigation called “Operation Northern Corridor.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Federal Bureau of Investigation headed “Operation Northern Corridor” along with the New Haven Police Department, to investigate the distribution of heroin in the city. They used authorized wiretaps, physical surveillance and controlled purchases of heroin from dealers around Ferry Street, Grand Avenue and Blatchley Avenue.
Pancho, who is 42, has a criminal history spanning decades, including several convictions. Many of Pancho’s arrests were for crimes committed or allegedly committed while he was on probation for another crime, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Hall. “In each of those instances, he breached the trust of the court,” meaning he is a danger to the community and could continue to run the heroin ring if released, Hall argued.
A March through July 15 wiretap of Pancho’s phone showed that about 5,000 of 14,000 total calls were related to “various aspects of the business,” Hall said. Pancho called associates to help him process packages of heroin received and pack small amounts into small bags for street-level sales, Hall said.
Pancho would then either distribute the bags himself or arrange for someone else to distribute to dealers, Hall said. In one phone call, Pancho “remonstrated” an associate for incorrectly bagging the heroin and risking a loss of business.
Through camera surveillance and the phone taps, officials realized Pancho “didn’t store heroin in the house, because that would be foolish, I guess,” Hall said. Instead, he had his next door neighbor store it, and then throw the bags over the fence, when it was time to prepare smaller packages.
Hall said Pancho stored some of the heroin in his personal vehicle and in a food truck parked in his driveway. The truck was decorated with depictions of cartoon characters including Spongebob Squarepants and Garfield.
Collateral Damage
Pancho’s wife offered to put her Clay Street home up as collateral to secure a bond, and his mother offered to sign the bond and provide housing for her son, his lawyer, Francis O’Reilly, said Friday. Two women “who don’t have a tremendous salary are willing to put their financial future at risk” for Pancho, O’Reilly said. “It should give the court great confidence that he would not be at risk of flight.”
But Hall said Pancho and his associates distributed heroin from the attic of the Clay Street home, making it unsuitable for collateral.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Merriam agreed with the state, and instituted stricter bond conditions for Pancho’s release.
O’Reilly said Pancho also owns a property in Florida valued at about $250,000, according to the real estate website Zillow. He has no mortgage on the property and has owned it for about 17 years.
Hall said Pancho has not worked in a long time, but has a lot of access to cash, which is troubling because of the financial aspect of the case. “We see indications of very substantial losses at casinos,” including the loss of $60,000 between January and June of this year.
And Pancho’s wife and friends own several residences in New Haven, “paid for by confederates” of Pancho, Hall said. His wife “would relay messages” between Pancho and his associates, though she will not necessarily be charged with any crime, Hall said.
Hall said the court should be cautious about allowing houses used for or paid by heroin distribution to be put up for bond. He said Pancho is a “man who seems to have access to very considerable assets.”
“Jail In Somebody’s House”
Judge Merriam agreed with the government and said Pancho could not stay at either his wife or mother’s house. In this case, unlike other cases of the sort, Judge Merriam said she was more worried about his risk of flight than his danger to the community.
“For a person who has indicated that he hasn’t worked, had no income and owes a lot in child support, ownership of a valuable home with no encumbrances raises my eyebrows,” she said. Even with an ankle bracelet, “I’ll know if you leave your house but there’s no cop waiting at the door. For flight, it doesn’t do the trick.”
She instituted a $500,000 bond (instead of a proposed $150,000 bond) secured by property belonging to his friends and family, for which “if the bond is forfeited, with no further action, the government forecloses on the house and takes it.”
She also said Pancho could only be released on bond under the condition that he stay on full home lock-down — but she suggested he consider his options. Likely, she said, he would be convicted and given at least a 10-year minimum sentence. If he stays in jail during the trial, he will get “day-for-day credit” counting toward the overall sentence. But he would have to start all over again if he chooses house arrest, Judge Merriam said.
“You’d be in jail in somebody’s house. You don’t get credit for that time,” she said.
She said O’Reilly and Pancho should draw up another proposal and hold another detention hearing.
You should let him out on bail. NOT.
Sounds like he might be a upright person.