James Costanzo could have been whatever he wanted to be, his lawyer said.
But the 37-year-old Ansonia man chose to be a drug dealer.
Now he faces the consequences — between five and six years in federal prison.
Costanzo pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly Fitzsimmons at U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Friday to distributing oxycodone pills and money laundering.
He will be sentenced May 22.
Federal agents arrested Costanzo last January after an investigation that they said uncovered a black market pharmacy run out of his Dwight Street home.
Costanzo’s dealing was so lucrative that he was able to plunk down $75,000 cash to buy a second house on Dwight Street. Those were in addition to properties in Waterbury and Florida.
The feds charged in court documents that Costanzo maintained control over his drug dealing operation through fear and intimidation. They said he bragged about smashing a man’s face into an oven door, and sent goons to menace people who owed him money.
But after spending more than a year detained in federal custody, Costanzo appeared anything but menacing Friday, led into the courtroom by two U.S. Marshals, his hands cuffed behind his back.
As Judge Fitzsimmons put questions to him to make sure he understood the consequences of his plea, Costanzo answered politely, pausing to think on occasion or confer with his lawyer before answering with a quiet “Yes, your honor” or “No, your honor.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan told Fitzsimmons that Costanzo first drew the attention of authorities in 2011, when Ansonia police launched an investigation of Costanzo.
They looked through his garbage and did surveillance of the traffic to and from his home.
“It was learned that there was everything to suggest Mr. Costanzo was involved in the sale of illegal drugs,” Sullivan said.
Though the prosecutor didn’t mention it in court, local cops got a warrant to search Costanzo’s house but turned up no drugs.
The feds said in court documents that Costanzo was tipped off about the raid, without offering more details.
But the case was revived in May 2013 when Ansonia police reached out to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Division Squad, who began a probe of their own.
The DEA agents put a camera near Costanzo’s home, and witnessed heavy traffic to and from the address, with visitors often staying for 10 minutes or less.
Sullivan said Friday that the DEA also sent an informant into the home to conduct “controlled purchases” of oxycodone from Costanzo on five occasions.
They raided the home last January and turned up 600 oxycodone pills and $5,500 cash.
Also arrested last January was Brian Earl, a North Haven resident and co-conspirator of Costanzo’s. Earl pleaded guilty in the case last week and faces between 37 and 46 months when he is sentenced May 12, according to his plea agreement.
Sullivan said Costanzo laundered the proceeds of his pill dealing by buying properties in Waterbury, Ansonia, and Florida.
“He had some reported income, but his expenditures far exceeded the income he reported to the government at that time,” Sullivan said.
The money laundering charge was based on his purchase with $75,000 cash — money derived from drug sales — of a house at 85 Dwight St., the prosecutor said.
As part of the plea deal, federal prosecutors said Costanzo agreed to forfeit the home, as well as a property in Waterbury, two vehicles, and approximately $42,613.
Lawyer: ‘Bright, Intelligent Young Man’
Costanzo’s lawyer, Donald Cretella, gave the Valley Indy a written statement before the plea hearing saying his client is a “bright, intelligent young man who chose to use his considerable talents to sell drugs in the Valley.”
“The experience of being arrested and incarcerated has been a humbling time for him to reflect on his life and the direction it will take when he is released from prison,” Cretella’s statement said. “He knows he can never again see the inside of a courtroom as a defendant.”
In a brief interview outside the courthouse, Cretella said Costanzo chose the wrong path in life and is now paying the consequences.
Costanzo could have been a top car salesman or excelled in other legitimate businesses, Cretella said, but “the lure of quick money” led him to dealing drugs.
He said his client thought too much of himself.
Though smart, “he also thought he was untouchable in a lot of ways,” Cretella said.
Cretella shook his head when asked whether Costanzo was actually tipped off about the 2011 raid, saying his client was “probably” just bragging.
Once he serves his hitch in prison, the lawyer said Costanzo hopes to work for his family as a property manager.
“He’s ready to get on to the next phase of his life,” Cretella said. “He has a good family behind him, a good work ethic, and I think he’ll be successful.”
