Bloomfield Man Sentenced On Cocaine Trafficking Charges: Feds

BLOOMFIELD, CT — A Bloomfield man will serve 30 months in federal prison for trafficking cocaine, according to a statement from Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Michael Copeland, 58, will also serve three years of supervised release.

According to prosecutors, in 2018, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force began investigating a Hartford area drug trafficking operation that involved the use of the U.S. Mail to ship parcels of drugs and drug proceeds.

Investigators found that Israel Mendoza, aka “D-Nice,” supplied Copeland with large quantities of cocaine, and that Copeland, at Mendoza’s direction, mailed parcels containing cash to people in California.

U.S. Postal Inspectors in California then intercepted and seized two parcels, each containing about $13,000 in cash, that Copeland mailed in Connecticut to addresses in the Fresno area. Investigators analyzed postal records and identified dozens of additional parcels connected to this drug trafficking network suspected to have contained drugs or drug proceeds, according to prosecutors.

In February 2019, investigators seized a parcel containing nearly 500 grams of cocaine that had been mailed from California to a Bloomfield home connected to Copeland.

Copeland was arrested ion November 2019. He pleaded guilty in May to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, cocaine.

Copeland, who is released on a $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison Feb. 16.