Feds: Elm City woman gets prison for drug trafficking and money laundering

NEW HAVEN — A city woman was sentenced to nine months in prison for narcotics trafficking and money laundering offenses, according to federal authorities.

Keilah Boria, 40, of New Haven, also must serve three years of supervised release under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford, federal authorities said in a statement.

As part of the case, the DEA New Haven Task Force began an investigation into a New Havenbased drug trafficking network headed by Michael Smith, also known as “Head,” in 2019, federal authorities said in the statement, citing court documents and statements made in court.

“The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps, revealed that Smith and others were distributing heroin and crack cocaine throughout the New Haven area, and that Boria maintained bank accounts that Smith used to launder the cash proceeds of his drug trafficking activity,” federal authorities said in the statement. “From

2016 to 2019, Boria deposited more than $200,000 in cash into the bank accounts. Smith spent some of the drug proceeds to pay for rental cars that he used to transport narcotics and to travel to meet his drug customers.”

Then, in December 2019, “Smith was intercepted on a wiretap describing having shot at a rival drug dealer,” federal authorities said in the statement. “New Haven Police collected 31 shell casings from a location in the Fair Haven neighborhood where the shooting occurred.”

Smith was arrested on Dec. 23, 2019, according to federal authorities.

Boria was arrested on Sept. 16, 2020, and she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute heroin and cocaine base, also known as crack, and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments on April 14, 2021, federal authorities

said in the statement.

Boria, who is free on a $150,000 bond, is required to report to prison Nov. 12, according to federal authorities.

Smith, who has been detained since his arrest, pleaded guilty to drug, firearm and money laundering charges on April 15, according to the statement. Smith has not yet been sentenced.

The investigation was conducted by the DEA New Haven Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and the New Haven, West Haven, Hamden, East Haven, North Haven, Ansonia, Meriden and Derby police departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Pierpont, Jr. and Elena L. Coronado through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program. More information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.