Alfred Catino, also known as “Alphonse Catino,” “Frank Ross,” “Frank Russo,” “Anthony Vitacco,” “Chico,” “the Old Man” and “Herbie,” had been detained since his arrest on May 8, 2012, for heading a narcotics trafficking ring that distributed oxycodone, cocaine and marijuana in Fairfield County, Daly said.
A year-long investigation, headed by the DEA’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and Norwalk Police Department, examined the distribution of oxycodone, cocaine and marijuana in Fairfield County. A total of 16 people were charged as a result of the investigation, which revealed that Catino and Demetrios “Jimmy” Papadakos were longtime associates who headed the trafficking ring.
On June 24, 2014, Catino pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, oxycodone and marijuana.
Catino’s criminal history includes multiple federal convictions for narcotics trafficking. He received his first federal conviction in 1967 for selling 115 grams of heroin to an undercover DEA agent. He was most recently convicted in 1998, and received a sentence of 140 months of imprisonment.
Papadakos, also of Danbury, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Dec. 17, 2014.
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