BRIDGEPORT - They're known as "Hawk," "Peti" and "Jose Luis," and investigators claim they were part of one of the largest drug rings to operate in Danbury in recent years.

But to the 12 men and women who will determine their fates, Warren Hawkins of Danbury, Arcadio Ramirez of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Jose Luis Rodriguez of Lawrence, Mass., are presumed innocent, even though federal prosecutors will try to persuade them otherwise over the next two weeks. The three men went on trial in federal court Wednesday, accused of helping distribute an estimated two pounds per week of powdered and crack cocaine throughout the area between 1998 and 2005. If convicted, they could be sentenced to between five and 40 years in prison. The investigation began in early 2004, after detectives from the Danbury police department's
Special Investigations Division
arrested a member of the ring and realized that he was a major player in the drug trade, according to federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent Eileen Dinnan , the first witness to take the stand. Over the next nine months, investigators made undercover drug buys and followed members of what they dubbed the
Alex Luna organization , after the 25-year-old Danbury man who allegedly headed it. Finally, after obtaining sufficient evidence for wiretap warrants, they monitored thousands of telephone conversations. "We were figuring out who was who, who was buying and who was selling," Dinnan said. Nineteen alleged conspirators were arrested when Danbury police and DEA agents subsequently dismantled the lucrative operation in March 2005. Fourteen defendants have already pleaded guilty. Several of them are expected to testify during the trial. After the initial arrests, investigators set their sights on even bigger fish, Dinnan testified. "Our focus went from the activity in Danbury to the transportation and supplier," she said. Rodriguez and Ramirez were indicted by a federal grand jury last fall as a result of the continuing investigation, along with an unnamed individual who authorities claim supplied the ring with narcotics. Court documents refer to the mystery man only as "
John Doe No. 1" or by his nickname, "Rubio." Court documents also indicate that after Rodriguez, 25, was taken into custody, he told authorities that for approximately 18 months, he and another member of the organization,
Jose Adames , regularly picked up cocaine from "Rubio" in New York and delivered it to Luna. But that information wasn't heard by the jury Wednesday. Rodriguez also said on at least 20 occasions, Ramirez accompanied them on the trips. They usually drove Ramirez' green Ford Taurus with a secret compartment behind the radio where the drugs were hidden. Hawkins' involvement in the ring was relatively minor, according to his defense attorney, Jonathan Einhorn of New Haven. The 34-year-old Danbury man allegedly sold his car to purchase about $100 worth of cocaine from Luna in February 2005, according to Hawkins' arrest warrant affidavit. "He is an addict," Einhorn said. Under cross-examination from Ramirez' attorney, Barry Weinstein , Dinnan conceded that none of the thousands of phone calls made by conspirators were placed to Ramirez. Nor was Ramirez' name mentioned in any of the calls monitored by police, she said.

Contact John Pirro


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