Man Gets Jail Time For Selling Drugs After Hartford Shooting: Feds

HARTFORD/NEW BRITAIN, CT — A former New Britain man will spend three and a half years in prison after being sentenced Monday for heroin trafficking in connection with a Hartford shooting in 2016.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, said Thomas Aquiles Jr., 37, formerly of New Britain, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 42 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for a heroin trafficking offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at approximately 10 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2016, Hartford police officers responded to a report of a person shot at a car wash located at 156 Franklin Ave. in Hartford.

At the car wash, officers encountered an employee of the car wash who was suffering from two gunshot wounds, Avery said.

The victim was transported to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries,

The investigation, which included analysis of a surveillance video, revealed Hector Alfonso arrived at the car wash shortly before the shooting to conduct a heroin transaction with Aquiles and Ruben Rodriguez, authorities said.

Alfonso and Rodriguez were both armed with handguns, officials said, and a dispute and subsequent struggle between Alfonso and Aquiles occurred during the transaction.

According to Avery, Alfonso shot the employee as he attempted to run from the car wash.

Alfonso was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on May 10, 2017.

Authorities said Alfonso eventually pleaded guilty to drug and firearm offenses and, on March 22, 2019, he was sentenced to 153 months of imprisonment for both offenses and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

Rodriguez was arrested Sept. 27, 2017, and he pleaded guilty to drug and firearm offenses and, on March 21, 2019, was sentenced to 72 months of imprisonment.

Aquiles, who was on state parole with the state of Connecticut in December 2016, absconded in January 2018 and remained a fugitive until he was arrested in New York in August 2022, Avery said.

On April 18, 2023, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, she said. He is currently detained in state custody.

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