Waterbury Man Sentenced To Five Years In Federal Prison For Role In Oxycodone Trafficking Ring

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID GAUDIOSI, also known as “Wade,” 29, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking oxycodone. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Blue Coast,” an investigation headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force into the large-scale trafficking of oxycodone pills from Florida to Connecticut.  The investigation revealed that an individual regularly purchased oxycodone from suppliers in Florida, transported the oxycodone to Connecticut by commercial airline or automobile, and sold the pills for profit to various Connecticut-based narcotics dealers.  He then transported the proceeds of his oxycodone sales from Connecticut to Florida, either by having a courier drive the money or by using commercial airline flights.

In early 2010, the Florida narcotics trafficker was introduced to GAUDIOSI, who already had been illegally distributing narcotic pills in the Waterbury area.  After the meeting, the trafficker began to supply GAUDIOSI with thousands of oxycodone pills on a weekly basis.  GAUDIOSI also visited the narcotics trafficker in Florida on multiple occasions to obtain prescriptions for oxycodone from unscrupulous pain clinics, commonly referred to as “pill mills.”

GAUDIOSI was arrested on September 13, 2011.  On June 5, 2012, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. 

Seventeen individuals, including two law enforcement officers and three Transportation Security Agency officers, have been convicted as a result of this investigation and prosecution.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, which included personnel from the Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford and Westport Police Departments; the DEA in Florida and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.  In addition, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Greenwich, Monroe, Danbury and Waterbury Police Departments have assisted the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov