He bragged about smashing a man’s face into an oven door.
He sent “associates” to slash tires or vandalize the homes of people who owed him money or “threatened his livelihood.”
He dropped thousands on properties in Connecticut and Florida, always paying in cash, despite having no “apparent legitimate source of income” other than a rental property.
He said he was untouchable — and he may have been right to an extent, because he was tipped off the last time police tried to raid his house.
He is James Louis Costanzo, 35, who was arrested Jan. 23 at his Dwight Street home, which authorities allege was being used as a black market pharmacy to peddle prescription pills such as oxycodone.
Authorities said they found 600 oxycodone pills and approximately $5,500 in cash in Costanzo’s house during the Jan. 23 raid.
He is charged with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, as is Costanzo’s alleged distributor, Brian Earl, 39, of North Haven. Both men are scheduled to appear in federal court Feb. 7.
The allegations above all come from court documents in the federal case against Costanzo.
While the arrests happened Jan. 23, authorities did not release detailed information until Jan. 30.
Raid Info Leaked?
Costanzo lived on Dwight Street, a dead-end street in a perfectly decent neighborhood off Wakelee Avenue in Ansonia.
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Police got wind of him because people in the neighborhood said there were way too many cars going to and from his house at 70 Dwight.
Ansonia police started an investigation in January 2011 — three years ago.
They had Costanzo under surveillance, and even did “trash pulls,” which are exactly what they sound like.
Police built a case and — believing that Costanzo was selling painkillers, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and amphetamines — got a warrant at some point in 2011 to search his house.
There was a problem, though. 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.
A spokesman for federal prosecutors declined to comment Thursday on Costanzo’s alleged bragging other than to say the investigation is “ongoing.”
When asked about Costanzo’s statement, Ansonia Police Chief Kevin Hale said Thursday his department has no indication the suspect had an associate in the police department.
“If we were to gain any information on that sort of behavior with this or any other case, we would certainly take appropriate action,” Hale said.
Costanza’s claim is all the more disturbing because state police are currently investigating “irregularities” regarding the processing of evidence at the Ansonia Police Department. Authorities haven’t said there’s a connection.
Hale pointed out his department worked closely with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad on the case against Costanzo.
Investigation Continues
Court documents indicate that Ansonia police kept trying to build a criminal case against Costanzo after the spoiled 2011 raid.
Last May, Ansonia police asked the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad to help with the investigation.
In June, DEA agents installed a camera near Costanzo’s home to check out the traffic neighbors complained about.
The day after the camera went up, agents allege they saw 24 cars come and go from Costanzo’s house in five hours. The vehicles were from all over — Milford, Norwalk, Waterbury, West Haven — and the people in the cars would be in and out of Costanzo’s house in no more than 10 minutes.
Police ran some of the vehicle registrations — some owners had criminal histories for drug crimes.
As the surveillance continued to monitor rush hour on Dwight Street, authorities bolstered their case by looking into Costanzo’s finances, cell phone records and getting at least one “cooperating witness.”
The informant was used to buy drugs from Costanzo, authorities allege.
The person also gave tons of details about Costanzo, claiming that he had been selling drugs for years, and that he would send associates to do his “dirty work” such as “slash tires or damage the homes of those who owe him money or who threaten his livelihood.”
Some of Costanzo’s conversations were also recorded, according to court documents, including when he allegedly bragged about assaulting two men over a drug dispute. He claimed to have smashed one man’s face into a glass oven door and knocked another man out cold.
The Raid
Hale briefly talked about the raid on Costanzo’s house at a public meeting Wednesday (Jan. 29).
The video at the top of the story contains his remarks.
The vehicle traffic that first concerned neighbors — the same traffic that was observed by police while they spied on Costanzo — continued during the raid.
“While we were serving the search warrant, eight additional people came to the house, just disregarded the police officers and DEA agents all over the place, and attempted to buy drugs,” Hale said.
That caused law enforcement to make eight additional arrests of people who are accused of wanting to buy prescription pills.
Among the eight people — former Seymour and University of New Haven football star Ryan Osiecki.
As of last April, Osiecki was an NFL draft hopeful. Last May, he participated in a New England Patriots mini-camp.
His agent, Paul Sheehy, declined to comment on the matter Thursday. Valley Indy readers stood by Osiecki’s side on Facebook Thursday.
“Pills are a nightmare. I don’t think people understand how bad it is out there,” Hale told Aldermen Wednesday.
The other seven people charged on the street were:
- Talisa Henry, 27, of Stratford
- Joseph Naples, 23, of Shelton
- David Barber, 26, of Milford
- Adam Barbera, 22, of Ansonia
- Kevin Corcoran, 22, of Shelton
- Michael Gannon, 28, of Stratford
- Daniel Sheets, 20, of Newtown
They were each charged with conspiracy to possess narcotics and are due to appear at Superior Court in Derby Feb. 6.
