A New Britain resident, Akeem Manoo, has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking. The U.S. District Court in Hartford delivered the sentence, which also includes four years of supervised release. This decision follows Manoo's guilty plea to charges of possessing with intent to distribute cocaine, a violation committed while he was on supervised release from a previous conviction.
Court documents reveal that Manoo, 34, had a history of legal issues. In 2016, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release for participating in a gang-related narcotics trafficking conspiracy. After being released in November 2022, he was arrested on May 11, 2023, when Hartford Police found him with nearly half a kilogram of cocaine in his vehicle.
The recent sentence by U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver encompasses 68 months for the cocaine charge and an additional 16 months for the violation of supervised release conditions. The case highlights ongoing law enforcement efforts, with the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and the Hartford Police Department conducting the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan J. Keefe prosecuted the case, underscoring the judicial system's continued focus on drug trafficking offenses.