Hartford Man Sentenced For Dealing Heroin, Cocaine

NEW HAVEN, CT — A Hartford man was sentenced to more than three and a half years in prison Friday for trafficking cocaine and heroin.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said Friday Henry Dejesus-Morales, also known as “Red,” 33, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 44 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force identified a Hartford man as a distributor of heroin and cocaine in Connecticut, New York and elsewhere.

The narcotics distributor was arrested on federal charges on Jan. 13, 2021.

A cellphone seized during the investigation revealed DeJesus-Morales supplied narcotics to the Hartford man, and further investigation revealed the narcotics trafficker, while detained in federal custody, was working with his wife and her son to distribute drugs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

DeJesus-Morales was subsequently intercepted on a court-authorized wiretap coordinating the sale of narcotics and, on May 27, 2021, he was observed distributing approximately 20 grams of fentanyl to the son of the detained individual’s wife, prosecutors said.

DeJesus has been detained since his arrest on June 28, 2021.

On March 21, he pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

The DEA’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic police departments.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ruff through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.

Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.