NEW HAVEN — A 40-year-old Ansonia man was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison for his role in a criminal conspiracy that moved large quantities of marijuana from California to Connecticut by the plane load.
Scott Bodnar, a father of four, admitted his crimes — and his remorse — in a letter to U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton, who sentenced Bodnar Wednesday.
In his letter, Bodnar writes that he was raised to know right from wrong, and that he is “completely responsible for my own choices and actions.”
Bodnar, who had worked three jobs to make ends meet, said he decided to start selling marijuana to make money in 2008. He was arrested on drug-related charges in 2015, but it didn’t slow him down.
“When I should have stepped on the brakes, I stepped on the gas instead,” according to Bodnar’s letter.
The Criminal Enterprise
Federal court records do not elaborate, but at some point Bodnar, who worked as a kitchen supervisor at an area chain restaurant for almost 17 years, hooked up with friends and grew a highly profitable illegal business.
In a sentencing memo to the judge, prosecutors point out that although Bodnar was not the leader, his group generated some $10 million in revenue. The prosecutors estimated that Bodnar himself made about $1 million in about two years.
The prosecutors further allege that Bodnar and his associates exploited the fact marijuana is easy to come by in legalized places such as California.
At first Bodnar and his associates mailed money to black market brokers in California who mailed small amounts of marijuana to Connecticut.
Then Bodnar and others flew to California on commercial flights to buy marijuana and have it mailed back to Connecticut.
Profits Soar
Then the operation grew “exponentially” over two years, according to prosecutors — to the point where the group employed a pilot (Donald Burns, of Milford, who was also arrested) and a plane to haul cash to California in exchange for bulk purchases of marijuana.
The small aircraft (a Piper single-engine) made some 22 trips — until the Federal Aviation Administration took notice of the pattern and alerted the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
On June 29, 2017, DEA agents were waiting for the plane when it landed at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. Burns, the pilot, consented to a search, prosecutors said, which revealed the aircraft was carrying 400 pounds of marijuana in 16 duffel bags.
The agents then arranged for the marijuana to make it to its destination — off New Haven Avenue in east Derby, where Bodnar’s partners — ringleader Robert Capelli, Terrell Givens and a third man — were arrested. Law enforcement discovered a “wealth of information” about the criminal enterprise from cell phones and a thumb drive that were seized from the men after the arrest.
The thumb drive, which belonged to Capelli, included information on everything from what brand of marijuana the men were buying in California to how much the men were spending on hotels and travel.
But It’s Only Weed
In a court document Bodnar’s lawyer, in arguing for a lower sentence, pointed out that marijuana is being decriminalized throughout the United States.
But federal prosecutors pointed out that Bodnar’s business was a threat to the public. The plane, for example, wasn’t designed to make cross-country trips — a fact that put people unlucky to be standing under its flight path in potential danger.
In addition, an associate of Bodnar’s group was killed in a New Haven marijuana deal “gone awry,” the prosecutor wrote.
“But even this act of violence was not enough to deter Bodnar and his co-defendants from continuing their marijuana operation,” prosecutors wrote. “Instead, they steadily increased the volume of marijuana purchased and sold.”
Remorse
In his letter to the judge, Bodnar acknowledged that while he was staying away from selling harder drugs such as cocaine, the marijuana trade put him near dangerous people and situations — but he was making very good money.
“I have a long road ahead to make amends to my country and my family,” Bodnar wrote. “When I look back at this chapter in my story, I want it to end with reconciliation and peace. I want my children to see how I accepted responsibility with honor and rigorous honesty.”
Bodnar was also sentenced to three years of supervised release once he’s out of federal prison.
His co-defendants have either been found guilty or have pleaded guilty. They await sentencing.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale and Marc Silverman.
