Man Linked to French Connection Ring Fighting New Drug Case

A Connecticut man linked by federal authorities to The French Connection heroin ring that spawned an Oscar-winning film of the same name is fighting to have a new drug case against him dismissed, even though he's pleaded guilty.

Alfred Catino, 74, of Danbury, was among 16 people busted in Connecticut in 2012 for distributing marijuana, cocaine and oxycodone in Fairfield County. He pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge last year and faces seven to nine years in prison.

Catino says in motions pending in federal court in Bridgeport that wiretap and arrest warrants in his case were based on misleading information provided by federal investigators. Prosecutors deny the allegations.

The French Connection was the major supplier of heroin to the United States in the 1960s and early 1970s.
 

Copyright The Associated Press
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