The Derby man accused of supplying heroin to a Hawthorne Avenue resident who died of an overdose pleaded guilty in the case at federal court in New Haven Friday.
Bradley Commerford, 20, now faces up to 40 years when he is sentenced, though a plea agreement in the case calls for a sentence in the range of roughly five to six years behind bars.
Commerford’s sentencing is scheduled for July 28 before U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford.
Commerford has been locked up since late February, after Derby and Shelton police — with help from a federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force — identified him as the man who sold the drugs that killed his lifelong friend.
On Friday Commerford pleaded guilty to distributing heroin to a person under 21 years of age before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Merriam at U.S. District Court in New Haven.
The investigation was prompted by two non-fatal overdoses in Shelton on Feb. 16 and the fatal overdose on Hawthorne Avenue in Derby the next day.
In a prepared statement, U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly and Special DEA Agent Michael Ferguson said Commerford was identified “as the heroin source of supply in all three overdose cases.”
“The investigation also revealed that Commerford sold heroin to a 16-year-old individual who did not overdose,” the statement said.
Click here to read more about the investigation from a previous story.
Though the charge carries up to 40 years behind bars, a plea agreement in the case means Commerford will likely receive a prison sentence of between 57 and 71 months.
Commerford was quickly identified as a person of interest in the Derby overdose after police talked to the victim’s family.
A second Derby man died of an overdose on Summit Street the same day as the Hawthorne Avenue resident. No charges have been filed in connection to that man’s death.
In 2006, when Commerford was 10, his older sister, Angela Krasowski, then 23, gave heroin to one of Commerford’s 13-year-old friends during a sleepover in Shelton, according to the Hartford Courant.
The teen died.
Commerford’s sister was sentenced to prison, along with her ex-husband, James Krasowski.
The plea agreement is posted below.
