3 Stamford Men Indicted On Fentanyl Trafficking Charges: Feds

STAMFORD, CT — Three Stamford men were indicted last year in connection with the trafficking of fentanyl analogues, and that three-count indictment was unsealed this week, announced United States Attorney John H. Durham and other law enforcement officials.

Charged were Vincent Decaro, 29; Arber Isaku, also 29; and David Reichard, 30. Decaro and Isaku recently were extradited from Albania are detained pending trial.

According to prosecutors and court documents, Decaro and Isaku purchased fentanyl analogues from suppliers in China and, working out of Decaro’s home on West Hill Circle in Stamford, pressed the drug into counterfeit oxycodone pills. They sold the narcotics to customers on dark web markets, and Reichard, who lived at Decaro’s home for a short time, helped Decaro and Isaku press pills and mail them to customers.

“On April 3, 2018, a court-authorized search of Decaro’s Stamford residence revealed numerous pills containing approximately 330 grams of fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl, approximately 40 grams of fentanyl analogues in powder form, three pill presses, instructions on how to prepare the fentanyl analogue Carfentanil, a hazardous material suit, a gas/respirator-type mask, and numerous U.S. Postal mail envelopes,” according to Durham.

In August of 2017, Isaku was arrested by the Connecticut State Police after he accepted delivery of a package containing approximately 160 grams of fentanyl at his Mitchell Street home in Stamford.

At the time of the search of Decaro’s home in April 2018, Decaro and Isaku were in Europe, and were apprehended by Albanian State Police in September of last year as they were attempting to cross the border from Albania into Kosovo. A search of an apartment in Tirana where they had been staying revealed alprazolam, fentanyl and other controlled substances; tools and dies for pressing pills, and instructions for synthesizing fentanyl.

From Durham’s announcement:

The indictment charges Decaro, Isaku and Reichard with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogues, and Decaro and Reichard with one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogues. Both offenses carry a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life. Isaku is also charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl analogues, and offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Reichard was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on April 13, 2018. He previously entered a plea of not guilty to the charges in the indictment.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Connecticut State Police and Stamford Police Department, with the assistance of the Albanian State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.