A New Haven, Connecticut, man has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison for his role in a crack cocaine distribution conspiracy.

Jermaine Mitchell, 44, who goes by the nickname “Melo,” was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Bangor by U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. to 21 years and eight months. He will also serve five years of supervised release when he gets out of prison.

Mitchell was convicted in June of helping to lead a conspiracy to buy crack cocaine in Connecticut and then take it to Bangor, where it was sold through a network of New Haven dealers who were staying in the city, along with local residents.

Authorities said the conspiracy operated between January 2010 and August 2013. They said Mitchell and his cousin Jeffrey Benton, also of New Haven, organized the conspiracy and that Benton was a member of the Red Side Guerilla Brims, a New Haven street gang affiliated with the Almighty Blood Nation.

The investigation was conducted by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the New Haven office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and New Haven police.