Major Fentanyl Dealer Pleads Guilty To Charges

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford gang member has pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges, according to a statement from federal prosecutors. Ricardo Reyes, aka "Rick the Ruler," 40, will be sentenced in June and faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

According to the statement, an investigation started in 2018 by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Gang Task Force began investigating Reyes, a member of the Los Solidos street gang. Reyes was distributing fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack in the area of Park Street and Hungerford Street in Hartford.

He was arrested in September 2018 when police found him in possession of a gun and approximately 250 bags of heroin/fentanyl.

He was released on bond, but investigators found he had purchased two handguns through a straw buyer. On April 22, 2019, investigators searched Reyes’ vehicle in New Britain and seized the two firearms.

A search of the vehicle also revealed approximately 450 bags of suspected heroin/fentanyl, more than one pound of marijuana, and $1,160 in cash. Reyes was charged with state offenses, released on bond, and resumed his drug trafficking activity.

He was arrested again June 17 and a search of a Rowe Avenue stash house resulted in seizure of 3,500 bags of fentanyl, according to the statement.

Reyes has been detained since his federal arrest. On June 27, 2019, a grand jury Hartford returned a 32-count indictment charging Reyes and 14 associates with various narcotics trafficking and firearm possession offenses.

Reyes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 28 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack”), and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Reyes’ criminal history includes state drug convictions, and a federal conviction for dealing firearms without a license.