BANGOR, Maine — A former New Haven, Connecticut, man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to three years in prison for his role in a crack cocaine distribution ring, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Torrence Benton, 28, pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribute crack cocaine, according to information posted on the court’s electronic case filing system.
By pleading guilty, Benton admitted that he was a member of the Red Side Guerilla Brims, a New Haven-based street gang affiliated with the Bloods street gang, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a press release.
In addition to prison time, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock sentenced Benton to three years of supervised release.
Benton will begin serving his federal sentence after completing a state sentence on a related charge, the release issued said. He is due to be released from the Maine State Prison on Feb. 8, 2016, according to information on the Maine Department of Corrections’ website.
In all Benton is expected to serve five years in prison, according to federal court documents.
Benton was arrested in April 2013 by Old Town police after he dropped a baggie of cocaine on the ground and police found he had a rock of crack cocaine clenched in his hand, according to a previously published report. Penobscot County Jail personnel found more drugs on Benton during the intake process.
Between January 2010 and August 2013, Benton conspired with other RSGB gang members and Bangor-area residents to distribute crack in the Bangor area, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. In early 2013, he came to the Bangor area and began distributing crack he had obtained from other gang members.
Benton was indicted by a federal grand jury along with 10 other people on Feb. 12, 2015, after he had been sentenced on the state drug charges. He was the first defendant to be sentenced on federal charges.
Benton faced up to life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million on the federal charge.
A related racketeering case against other gang members is being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut.