Feds: New Haven man gets 21 months in prison for selling crack

A New Haven man was sentenced to nearly two years in prison after law enforcement heard him arranging multiple purchases for crack in late 2020, according to federal prosecutors.

A federal judge in Hartford ordered Tashaun Fair, 29, of New Haven, to serve 21 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Fair pleaded guilty to using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking felony in May 2021, according to Leonard Boyle, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Fair’s charge stems from a monthslong investigation by the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets and Gang Task Force, in conjunction with the New Haven Police Department, into narcotics trafficking in and around the city. As part of the investigation, the FBI used a court-authorized wiretap to monitor the phone of Devaro Taylor for about 60 days, according to court documents.

Through the calls, law enforcement heard Fair arranging the purchase of crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which he would convert into crack, from Taylor, records show.

That November, law enforcement intercepted three calls where Fair requested crack cocaine or powder cocaine from Taylor, court documents state.

“Based on the content of the calls, it was clear that

Fair was reselling the product he purchased from Taylor,” according to court documents.

Fair has been detained since his arrest in January 2021.

That same month, police searched Taylor’s home and seized 124 grams of cocaine, 226 grams of crack, more than 80 pills and $6,700 in cash, according to court documents.

Taylor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, a controlled substance in December 2021. He is awaiting sentencing, Boyle’s office said.

Taylor has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

Fair and Taylor were of five New Haven residents charged in January 2021 with federal narcotics offenses.

Fair’s criminal history includes “several convictions ,” two of which were related to his involvement in gunpoint robberies, Boyle’s office said.