Hartford Man Sentenced to More Than 17 Years in Federal Prison for Drug and Gun Offenses

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RASHAUD JONES, also known as “Buck,” 33, of Hartford and Windsor, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 211 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release.  On March 2, 2015, a jury found JONES guilty of multiple narcotics and firearm offenses.

According to the evidence disclosed during the trial, this matter stems from a joint investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force.  Investigators had developed information that JONES was dealing extremely large quantities of crack cocaine out of apartments he maintained on Evergreen Avenue and Westland Street in Hartford.

On December 18, 2012, investigators conducted a motor vehicle stop of JONES and seized more than $9,000 in cash, three cellular telephones and other evidence.  Investigators then conducted searches of JONES’s apartment at 232 Westland Street in Hartford and a car parked at the residence and seized approximately 935 grams of crack cocaine, approximately 635 grams of powder cocaine, narcotics packaging material, a loaded .22 Taurus revolver, a 9mm High Point pistol, a Ruger 345 .45 caliber firearm, a loaded .45 caliber magazine, a loaded .9mm magazine and additional ammunition.

JONES was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”), one count of possession with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base, one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 28 grams or more of cocaine base, possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of ammunition by a previously convicted felon. 

JONES’s criminal history includes five felony narcotics convictions.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force, the Hartford Police Department and the Bristol Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Geoffrey M. Stone and Peter D. Markle.