New Haven County resident Brandon Gatling of Waterbury will serve six years in state prison after admitting to selling narcotics in Putnam County, Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy announced on Thursday, Sept. 12.
According to Tendy's office, Gatling was arrested on June 14, 2023, following an investigation into a fatal overdose conducted by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit.
After the overdose, authorities found Gatling's contact information in the victim's cell phone. Undercover investigators then arranged to buy fentanyl from him in Putnam County.
When Gatling arrived at the scene of the "transaction," investigators took him into custody and found more than 200 glassine envelopes containing a deadly heroin and fentanyl mixture in his car. They also found several cell phones, a small amount of cocaine, and several rounds of ammunition, officials said.
Gatling pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a controlled substance charges on Tuesday, Sept. 3. He will be sentenced on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and will also be required to serve one and a half years of supervised release in addition to his six-year sentence.
"The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit did an outstanding job in this investigation,” Tendy said of the case, adding, "As always, they were painstaking in their work, and it resulted in getting off our streets someone who had no compunction bringing and selling deadly drugs into Putnam County."
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