ANSONIA – A city resident who DEA agents suspected of being connected to two fatal overdoses and trafficking women in Connecticut was charged Feb. 27 with dealing fentanyl.
Daqwon Graham, 30, was arrested on High Ridge Road in Stamford, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Authorities allege Graham had about 400 grams of fentanyl with him.
The arrest caps an investigation during which police and a federal task force allegedly made a series of drug buys from Graham at locations all over southwestern Connecticut.
He is charged with possession with intent to distribute 400 or more grams of fentanyl; and using a communications device to facilitate a drug trafficking felony. Those are federal charges.
Graham is represented by Noah Jon Kores of Logan, Vance, Sullivan & Kores LLP in Torrington.
“He was detained without prejudice while we put together a bond proposal,” Kores said in an email to The Valley Indy. “He is presumed innocent unless and until the government proves otherwise.”
DEA agents also obtained search warrants for Graham’s Howard Avenue residence in Ansonia; his vehicle; and his iPhone.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the government Feb. 24, Graham “was a suspect in two previous fatal overdoses.”
A man was found dead of an apparent drug overdose on March 9, 2023 at the Branford Motel on East Main Street in Branford.
“Police reports documented a witness observed Graham deliver cocaine to the victim the night before the victim was found deceased and phone records of the victim’s telephone revealed the victim was in contact with Graham the night of March 8, 2023,” according to the complaint, authored by DEA Special Agent Daniel Lowndes.
State prosecutors declined prosecution for a manslaughter charge, according to the complaint.
On Oct. 1, 2024, a woman was found dead from an apparent overdose at the Marriott Residence Inn on Bridgeport Avenue. Police said the woman was a prostitute, and the room where she was found was rented under Graham’s name.
He was charged in Shelton in December 2024 with promoting prostitution.
The federal complaint against Graham says that DEA agents, a Shelton police officer, and a confidential source passed along information alleging that Graham is “extremely active in human trafficking in hotels around the State of Connecticut.”
The complaint by special agent Lowndes hints that more charges are possible.
“ . . . I believe Graham continues to traffic deadly fentanyl in the State of Connecticut and Agents have reason to believe that Graham continues to engage in human trafficking activities,” the agent wrote.
The complaint gives enough information to obtain probable cause – it is not a full account of the criminal case.
It details eight fentanyl deals authorities made with Graham in January and February. Graham allegedly made the transactions in parking lots in Wilton, Shelton, Trumbull and Norwalk.
The last deal was allegedly to sell 400 grams for around $15,000.
“I believe Graham has access to wholesale quantities of fentanyl and a search of (his telephone) will reveal sources of supply of fentanyl,” Agent Lowndes wrote.
The federal court file does not reveal what authorities may have found in their searches of Graham’s phone, residence and vehicle.
Authorities said Graham was unemployed but owns Energy Exotics LLC, a business that rents out high-end cars.
Graham has separate criminal cases pending in Shelton and Ansonia involving drugs and promoting prostitution.