
SEYMOUR – A 49-year-old Seymour man accused of supplying heroin to a Bridgeport area drug dealer was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in federal prison last week.
Law enforcement agents said they found drugs, drug paraphernalia, guns (three rifles and two handguns), and $129,000 in cash in Louie McDowell’s Cedar Street house after a raid. Another $217,000 was found in McDowell’s safety deposit box, the government said.
McDowell was caught on recorded conversations talking about the heroin trade with Antonio Small, a leader of a drug trafficking organization ​“operating in and around Bridgeport.”
Area law enforcement, including the FBI, began investigating Small’s organization starting in 2017. They used wiretaps, surveillance cameras and controlled buys to eventually arrest five people.
Part of the case against McDowell included taking garbage from outside his house on Cedar Street in 2018. Law enforcement said they found items related to the drug trade, including plastic bags, plastic gloves, paint thinner and transmission fluid.
The FBI alleged paint thinner is used to dissolve cutting agents found in narcotics such as heroin, while transmission fluid is used to hide odors from drug-sniffing dogs.
Court documents show McDowell’s house in Seymour was under surveillance, so, in addition to being recorded on the phone talking about heroin deals with Small, police watched Small arrive at McDowell’s house as part of an arranged heroin pickup.
Court documents further allege that Seymour police were called to McDowell’s house for an unspecified call in September 2017. Officers noted an extensive camera surveillance system in place at the home, along with a digital lock on an interior door.
“Based on my training and experience, I believe that the advanced security system is to ensure the safety of large sums of cash and narcotics,” according to a statement from the FBI included in the case file.
Law enforcement alleged that McDowell’s house in Seymour was used as a place to ​“facilitate” heroin sales, in addition to experimenting on the mixtures of heroin in order to sell heroin at the highest profit.
A sentencing memo submitted to the court by McDowell’s lawyer states that McDowell was subjected to horrific abuse growing up, and that his mother, addicted to drugs, gave him away. McDowell himself had a child at age 13, according to the court documents, and dropped out of high school to sell drugs.
In a letter to the court, McDowell said he accepted responsibility for his crimes, and that he hoped to one day use his negative experiences in life to help others.
Court documents also indicate that McDowell has an extensive criminal background.
He was initially indicted on 11 criminal counts. A plea bargain saw him plead guilty in July 2021 to two of the original counts:
Conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances
Possession of a firearm during and relation to a drug trafficking crime
McDowell has been behind bars since his arrest on Nov. 6, 2018 while his court case was pending. He will be on supervised release for five years once he’s out of prison.