An Ansonia man accused of running a pill-dealing business through fear and intimidation while bragging he was “untouchable” is scheduled to take a plea deal Friday in federal court.
James Costanzo, formerly of Dwight Street, is due to appear before Judge Holly Fitzsimmons at U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Feb. 26, where court documents indicate he will plead guilty to crimes punishable by up to 40 years behind bars.
Costanzo was arrested more than a year ago by federal agents and local police who had zeroed in on his Dwight Street home, saying it was being used as a black market pharmacy to peddle prescription pills such as oxycodone.
Authorities said they found 600 oxycodone pills and about $5,500 in cash at the house during the Jan. 23, 2014 raid.
A second man accused along with Costanzo, Brian Earl, of North Haven, took a plea deal in the case last week.
Jury selection for Costanzo had been scheduled for next month until a “change of plea hearing” was scheduled for Friday morning.
The Valley Indy left a message with Costanzo’s lawyer Thursday afternoon.
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Background
After raiding the Dwight Street home, the feds filed court documents painting a picture of Costanzo as a violent drug dealer who bragged about smashing a man’s face into an oven door and sending “associates” to slash tires or vandalize the homes of people who owed him money.
They also said he dropped thousands of dollars in cash on properties in Connecticut and Florida, despite having no “apparent legitimate source of income” other than a rental property.
Police first got wind of Costanzo because people in his neighborhood said there were a lot of cars going to and from his house at 70 Dwight St.
Local cops first started an investigation in January 2011.
They put Costanzo under surveillance, and even did “trash pulls,” sifting through his garbage to find incriminating evidence.
Believing Costanzo was selling painkillers, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and amphetamines, they got a warrant at some point in 2011 to search his house.
But somebody told Costanzo the cops were coming.
“Law enforcement learned during the course of the present investigation that Costanzo was tipped off prior to the execution of the search warrant, during which APD (Ansonia Police Department) was unable to locate any contraband within Costanzo’s residence,” according to a court document.
Court documents do not indicate who may have tipped him off or how he received the info.
However, since avoiding arrest in 2011, Costanzo repeatedly bragged “that he is untouchable and that he has an associate within the APD,” according to court documents.
Whether Costanzo was telling the truth isn’t known.
Ansonia police eventually asked the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Division Squad to help with the probe.
DEA agents installed a camera near Costanzo’s home to check out the traffic neighbors complained about.
In five hours, they saw 24 cars come and go from Costanzo’s house, with the drivers often spending 10 minutes or less at the home.
When cops ran the plates of the vehicles, some owners had criminal histories for drug crimes.
The traffic to and from the house continued even during the raid, when local police charged eight people with conspiracy to possess narcotics.
Costanzo has been detained since his arrest last January, despite a failed attempt at convincing a judge to let him out on bond and stay with relatives in Florida.
The judge denied the request after prosecutors played recordings of conversations he had with his girlfriend while in custody that they said showed he was still trying to conduct his drug dealing business while in jail.
