David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that WILLIAM BURRUSS, also known as “Cheese,” 27, Meriden, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sarah F. Russell in New Haven to a fentanyl trafficking offense.
According to court documents and statements made in court, after members of the FBI’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force developed evidence that Burruss was selling fentanyl in and around New Haven, investigators made two controlled purchases from him in June 2025. Burruss was arrested on September 9, 2025, after investigators arranged a controlled purchase of approximately 84 grams of fentanyl from Burruss in Hamden.
Burruss pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 40 grams or more of fentanyl. At sentencing, which is not scheduled, Burruss faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.
Burruss, who formerly resided in New Haven, is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.
This matter has been investigated by the FBI’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force, the New Haven Police Department, and the Connecticut State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathan Guevremont and Christopher Lembo.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement toward identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
HSTF New Haven comprises agents and officers from the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Export Enforcement, and Connecticut State Police, with prosecutions led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.