A 38-year-old man who allegedly beat his girlfriends, intimidated his neighbors by slashing their tires, and had drug addicts swarming his Dwight Avenue house like bees to honey was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison Wednesday.
All in all it was a pretty good outcome for James Costanzo, especially since federal prosecutor David X. Sullivan essentially described him in court as a narcissistic manipulative bully with no redeeming qualities.
Yet the prosecution and Costanzo’s lawyer worked out a deal that allowed him to plead guilty to two drug-related felonies in exchange for agreeing not to appeal the case.
Constanzo will not serve the full 57-month prison sentence. He will get credit for the approximately 28 months he’s spent in jail since he was arrested and the case was pending.
During a sentencing hearing in federal court in Bridgeport in front of U.S. Judge Victor Bolden, both sides in the case presented arguments regarding how much time the dealer should serve.
The prosecution argued Costanzo should receive 71 months in prison, the most he could get under the plea bargain.
Had the case gone to a jury trial, Constanzo was looking at a potential 20-year prison stint.
Donald Cretella, Costanzo’s lawyer, argued for about 30 months in prison, saying his client had learned the error of his ways since getting arrested after an extensive investigation by Ansonia police and federal agents.
The defense lawyer pointed out another person arrested with Costanzo was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Costanzo, looking much younger than his age and sporting a fresh haircut, expressed remorse while reading a prepared statement to the judge.
He indicated he was recovering from a disease, a reference to drug addiction.
But the prosecutor said it was all an act, an attempt to look good for the court.
“Is he referring to the disease of greed? Is he referring to the disease of money?” Sullivan asked.
The prosecutor played recorded phone conversations from jail between Costanzo and his mother during which Costanzo said he did not take drugs, joking that he was “au naturel.”
Costanzo told the judge he had “sold his soul for material compensation,” and that all he wanted now was to be a good dad to his two children.
But Sullivan pointed out that when authorities arrested Costanzo, they first stopped a vehicle on Dwight Street with Costanzo’s girlfriend and two kids.
Costanzo was following behind in another vehicle. When he saw people approaching his family, he didn’t stop to see what was up, Sullivan said. Instead he left his family behind and drove away, only to be arrested about a mile away.
The prosecution also played an audio clip from a jailhouse phone conversation during which Costanzo told his mother his kids were simply not his top priority.
When authorities raided Costanzo’s property in January 2014, they found 600 oxycodone pills and approximately $5,500 in cash. Authorities had completed a number of “controlled buys” to tighten the investigative noose around Costanzo’s neck.
Dwight Street is a quiet dead-end road off Wakelee Avenue. Neighbors had an idea of what was happening, but Costanzo would vandalize their property if he thought they were talking to police.
He also bragged about having connections at the Ansonia Police Department, something police deny. Police looked into Costanzo’s claims after he was arrested, Lt. Andrew Cota said, and could not find a connection.
During the drug investigation, the feds set up a camera to watch the constant flow of people in cars driving to Costanzo’s house to buy pills.
He brought an “infestation” to the neighborhood, Sullivan said.
“It looked like he had a 24-hour barbecue,” the prosecutor said.
Costanzo was also a NRA firearms instructor, Sullivan said. He was divorced, but when his kids came over for visits, they were there next to the “volatile combination” of drugs and guns, the prosecutor said.
Costanzo also had a history of violence against women — though no criminal convictions — and bragged about hurting people connected to the drug trade. There was an AR-15 in the kitchen and a shotgun by his bed. He was caught with a Glock in his possession.
The guns were all legal to possess — but shouldn’t be in the hands of a guy running a black market pharmacy out of his single-family home.
He also had extensive real estate holdings, all bought with drug money.
“Mr. Costanzo has learned nothing. His only regret is getting court,” Sullivan said. “Quite frankly there is nothing redeeming about this defendant.”
In the end, the judge went lenient on Costanzo, citing his lack of previous felony convictions. The judge also indicated Costanzo may have been abused himself at some point in his life, but information regarding those claims are not available to the public.
Costanzo will also have to pay a $5,000 fine.
