NEW HAVEN — A 33 year-old Beacon Falls resident was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison for his role in a cross-country marijuana trafficking scheme.
Terrell “Skz” Givens, 34, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
He was sentenced Sept. 11 and he’ll go to prison on Oct. 23.
Federal prosecutors said Givens, along with Robert Capelli, Scott Bodnar of Ansonia, and Donald Burns of Milford, formed “Stack Paper,” a criminal organization that flew to California to buy large amounts of marijuana to sell locally.
Burns was a pilot who flew the small plane, which prosecutors said was always in need of repairs, underscoring the danger of Stack Paper’s enterprise.
Capelli was the leader. The group called Givens “el presidente,” according to court papers. The government alleged Givens and sold about 1,275 pounds of marijuana in Connecticut for about $3.3 million over 2.5 years.
“During that two and a‑half years, Givens garnered a pure profit of $659,154.70,” according to a sentencing memo from prosecutors.
It all came crumbling down 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.
Givens wasn’t arrested immediately. His involvement surfaced after law enforcement began combing through business records found on a flash drive.
In a sentencing memo to the court, Givens’ lawyer points out that he started selling marijuana for a living at about age 20. He has no employment record from 2007 until 2017.
But his lawyer pointed out that after the DEA searched Stack Paper’s plane, and arrested his business partners Givens started an extraordinary turn around.
Givens knew that he would likely be arrested at any moment, but didn’t numb himself through smoking marijuana or drinking, his lawyer pointed out.
Instead, he went to truck-driving school and got a commercial driver’s license. He stopped smoking marijuana, something he said he had been addicted to since his teens.
But prosecutors pointed out that Givens had reasons to turn a new leaf while he was dealing marijuana.
They pointed out his cousin was shot to death during a drug deal gone bad in New Haven in March 2016.
Prosecutors said that after the shooting, Givens sent an image to Capelli, Stack Paper’s leader, showing two suspects with their heads circled and nicknames displayed.
That would have been a natural time to leave “the game,” prosecutors said — but Givens didn’t even give info to help police crack the case.
It remains unsolved.
