NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A New London man was sentenced in New Haven court Thursday to over 16 years in federal prison for narcotics trafficking, money laundering and firearm possession offenses, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Anthony “Jak Mac” Whyte, 50, will have his prison sentence followed by five years of supervised release.
Prosecutors said the case stems from an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Connecticut Statewide Narcotics Taskforce East, Connecticut Department of Correction and the police departments in New London, Waterford, Groton and Stonington. The investigation focused on the distribution of narcotics and illegal possession of guns in southeastern Connecticut.
The investigation also included court-authorized wiretaps and controlled purchases and seizures of heroin, cocaine and firearms.
Evidence introduced during the trial of Whyte and his co-defendant Amy Sarcia notes that Whyte received heroin, fentanyl and cocaine from different sources in Connecticut, New York and elsewhere. Prosecutors said he then distributed the drugs to co-conspirators in southeastern Connecticut, who sold them to customers and other street-level drug dealers.
Sarcia both distributed and used cocaine and accepted drug profits from Whyte before providing him with weekly paychecks from her business, Two Wives Pizza, and a federal W-2 tax form. Prosecutors said this was done to present the narcotics proceeds as employee wages. Additionally, Sarcia accepted cash from Whyte for allowing him to use three apartments in a building she managed to store and dispense the drugs.
According to prosecutors, on Feb. 21, 2019, Whyte, Sarcia and several other co-conspirators were arrested. That day, a search of Whyte’s New London apartment and other apartments he used ffound more than a kilogram of cocaine, around 180 grams of heroin, about 100 grams of fentanyl and fentanyl pills, 10 guns – several of which were stolen – and thousands of dollars in cash. Investigators seized more illegal drugs, another gun and nearly $200,000 in cash from other members of the conspiracy.
Whyte has been detained since his 2019 arrest. He and Sarcia were found guilty on Sept. 28, 2021, of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute various narcotics, and one count of money laundering. Whyte was also found guilty of three counts of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of various narcotics, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Prosecutors said that Sarcia was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $7,500 fine on Oct. 24, 2023, and that 24 others were charged and convicted because of the investigation.
The investigation was completed by the DEA, Homeland Security Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, Connecticut Statewide Narcotics Taskforce East, Connecticut Department of Correction and the police departments in New London, Waterford, Groton, Stonington, Norwich, Old Saybrook and at UConn.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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