NEW BRITAIN MAN INVOLVED IN HEROIN RING SENTENCED TO 44 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON
Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NAZARIEL GONZALEZ, also known as “Pito,” 27, of East Street, New Britain, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Mark R. Kravitz in New Haven to 44 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. GONZALEZ pleaded guilty to the charge on January 10, 2006.
On September 7, 2005, a federal grand jury returned a Superseding Indictment charging GONZALEZ and 28 other individuals with various narcotics offenses involving the distribution of heroin, cocaine and marijuana in and around Willimantic. The charges stem from an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) investigation dubbed “Operation WilliRiders,” which was spearheaded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Hartford, and related to contemporaneous investigations of alleged co-conspirators in Chicago, Illinois and Cleveland, Ohio. As part of the investigation in Connecticut, the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crime Gang Task Force, working closely with the Willimantic Police Department, conducted three months of court-authorized wiretap surveillance. All 29 charged defendants have been convicted.
According to statements made in court during the sentencing hearing, GONZALEZ sold 100 grams of heroin to co-defendants Eduardo Casiano and Jose Santiago Vera in Hartford in July 2005.
On October 27, 2006, a jury found Casiano and Vera guilty of various narcotic trafficking charges. Vera has been sentenced to 160 months of imprisonment. Casiano awaits sentencing.
U.S. Attorney O’Connor commended the law enforcement agents and officers who conducted the investigation and praised their devoted efforts to identify, disrupt and dismantle this substantial narcotics trafficking operation.
Willimantic is a Department of Justice recognized and funded Weed and Seed site. Weed and Seed is a Department of Justice strategy that aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in targeted high-crime neighborhoods across the country. Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors cooperate in “weeding out” criminals who participate in violent crime and drug abuse, attempting to prevent their return to the targeted area. “Seeding” brings human services to the area, encompassing prevention, intervention, treatment, and neighborhood revitalization.
This investigation is a collaborative effort of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Willimantic Police Department, the States Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Windham and the United States Attorney’s Office. Members of the Connecticut State Police and the Hartford Police assisted in the investigation. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert M. Spector. |
