HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A man who federal authorities say was a player in 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, who has a lengthy and colorful drug conviction history, 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 under the deal, with the right to argue for a lesser sentence.