Hartford Man Pleads Guilty In Fentanyl-Dealing Case

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford man has pleaded guilty to one county of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, fentanyl, according to federal prosecutors. Joseph Griffin, 42, also admitted that he violated the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

Griffin was arrested on Jan. 17 after investigators made a controlled purchase of more than five grams of fentanyl from him. Griffin possessed an additional two grams of fentanyl at the time of his arrest, according to the statement.

At the time Griffin was on federal supervised release for a 2009 conviction for distributing crack cocaine. He was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release for that offense and had been released from federal prison in December 2017.

He is scheduled sentencing for Feb. 10 and faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Griffin is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force, Hartford Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Huang and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Leonard C. Boyle.