Guilty Plea Entered in Enfield Heroin Deaths

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, controlled substances, in connection with a pair of fatal heroin overdoses in Enfield in 2016..

Christopher Barreto, 29, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford, according to John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

According to court documents and statements made in court, around 9:52 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2016, the Enfield Police Department and emergency medical personnel responded to a residence in Enfield and found an unresponsive 31-year-old male in the upstairs bedroom of the residence. The victim was pronounced deceased. Officers searched the immediate area and seized one empty white wax fold and six full white wax folds that contained suspected heroin. Officers also seized the victim’s iPhone. An analysis of text messages revealed that the victim had ordered heroin from an individual in the evening of Aug. 25, 2016, Durham said.

Around 8:23 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2016, Enfield police and emergency personnel responded to another residence and found an unresponsive 36-year-old man outside the house. The victim was transported to a hospital for medical attention and pronounced deceased. Officers subsequently recovered the victim’s cell phone and 20 white wax folds that contained suspected heroin. Analysis of the victim’s cell phone revealed that the victim had purchased heroin from the same individual two days before his death, Durham said.

Analysis of text messages revealed that both victims purchased heroin from an individual who had purchased the heroin from Barreto. The text messages also revealed that Barreto was consistently dealing narcotics from April 2016 until he was arrested on Aug. 10, 2017, Durham said.

At the time of his arrest, investigators seized approximately 2,000 wax folds of heroin from Barreto’s residence, according to Durham.

Judge Shea scheduled sentencing for Oct. 31, 2018, at which time Barreto faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. He is released on bond pending sentencing, Durham said.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

To sign up for free Enfield news alerts and more, click here.