BRISTOL — A suspected drug dealer arrested in Bristol a year ago pleaded no contest on Sept. 22 to several drug charges in Addison County Superior Court, criminal division.
Terrence Devon Diggs, 34, of Waterbury, Conn., did not contest one count of selling heroin, for which he was sentenced to 18 month to four years in prison. He also plead no contest to possession of heroin, for which Judge Robert A. Mello sentenced him to four months, and no contest to possession of a regulated drug, which Bristol police said was bath salts. He was sentenced 6 to 12 months for that charge. He will serve his sentences concurrently, and must also pay $423 in fines.
Bristol police arrested Diggs on Sept. 19, 2013, during a sting operation on South Street. In an affidavit, police said they found Diggs in possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and bath salts, as well as $1,100 in cash. In January, Bristol arrested Bristol resident Jody Lee Cousino, 35, for whom police had been searching in connection with the September bust.
Cousino faces a single charge of selling heroin, and his case has not yet been resolved.
This is not Diggs’ first conviction for drug offenses. He was arrested four times in Connecticut between 2001 and 2006, and in 2007 was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of marijuana and sale of a controlled substance.
Bristol Police Chief Kevin Gibbs said he was satisfied with the sentence Diggs received, and with the investigation his department conducted. He said he hopes the sentence deters others from dealing drugs in Bristol, but conceded that some see selling drugs as a way to make money.
“It will deter some, but for others it won’t matter,” Gibbs said.