HARTFORD — A Connecticut woman charged with operating a heroin processing mill in Hartford was sentenced to nearly four years in prison Monday in U.S. District Court in New Haven.
Amanda Gambardella, 26, of Hartford and Cheshire, will spend 46 months in jail, followed by three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force received information that a drug trafficking organization was obtaining large quantities of heroin in New York City, transporting the drug to Connecticut, and distributing it in the Hartford area. Investigators said Gambardella would store and package heroin at her apartment on Adelaide Street in Hartford, and that she had rented a storage unit in East Hartford for the same purpose.
On November 4, 2015, investigators searched the storage unit and seized approximately $795,990 in cash. The following day, investigators searched the apartment and seized approximately 778 grams of heroin, cutting agents, packaging materials and other paraphernalia associated with a large scale heroin processing mill. The seized heroin included more than 17,000 bags packaged for street sale and approximately 200 grams of unpackaged heroin.
Gambardella pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin in February.
