Armed Drug Trafficker Sentenced to More Than 14 Years in Federal Prison

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DONALD HILL, also known as "Man Man," 39, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 170 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for drug distribution and firearm possession offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 29, 2022, Waterbury Police officers patrolling in response to recent shots-fired incidents attempted to stop a car Hill was driving on Englewood Avenue. Hill accelerated but was blocked by another police vehicle. He reversed his car, struck a police vehicle behind him that stopped his exit, and was subsequently forcibly removed from his car. A search of the car revealed a loaded handgun with an obliterated serial number; additional rounds of ammunition; more than 500 grams of crack cocaine; more than 1,600 baggies of fentanyl mixed with other substances, including cocaine and xylazine; six cellphones; and $2,489 in cash.

Analysis of the firearm using the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) connected it to a shooting in New Haven on January 21, 2022, and a shots-fired incident in Wolcott on October 29, 2022.

Hill's criminal history includes convictions for weapon possession, narcotics distribution, escape, and other offenses.

Hill has been detained since his arrest on November 29, 2022. On May 14, 2024, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This investigation was conducted by the Waterbury Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Natasha M. Freismuth through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.