Drug Dealer From Hartford Sentenced To Prison In Vermont: Feds

BURLINGTON, VT./HARTFORD, CT – A Hartford man was sentenced to federal prison in Vermont this week for dealing various types of narcotics, among other offenses.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Rafael Ortiz, 47, of Hartford, was sentenced Monday, March 4, by U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III to slightly more than nine years in prison and three years of supervised release.

This comes, officials said, after Ortiz pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine base and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court records, Ortiz was arrested in May 2021 in Lyndonville, Vt., on two State of Vermont arrest warrants, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and eluding a police officer.

While leading Vermont State Police officers on a foot chase, Ortiz discarded from his waistband a Sig Sauer 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol with a defaced serial number and loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.

Ortiz continued to flee and refused to comply with commands until police used a Taser to incapacitate him, officials said.

A small meat cleaver and a dagger-style knife, along with approximately $1,500, were recovered from Ortiz, authorities said.

Law enforcement located the discarded firearm and, from Ortiz’s backpack, recovered approximately 38 grams of cocaine base, 13 grams of fentanyl analogue fluorofentanyl, approximately 11 grams of fentanyl, and a quantity of heroin mixed with the fluorofentanyl.

For more information on the case and the sentencing, click on this link.