Man Sentenced For Selling Drugs At Hartford Grocery Stores: Feds

HARTFORD/BRIDGEPORT, CT — A Dominican national and former Hartford resident was sent to prison Thursday for his role in a major narcotics trafficking organization in Hartford.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, said Johnattan Fernandez-Lopez, 37, a citizen of the Dominican Republic formerly residing in Hartford, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport to five years in prison.

Authorities said the sentence was for his role in a narcotics trafficking organization that distributed oxycodone pills, counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, and other drugs in the Hartford area.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the case stems from a joint investigation by the DEA Tactical Diversion Squad and the FBI Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force.

The operation targeted individuals distributing drugs from neighborhood grocery stores in New Britain and Hartford.

Avery said, that between January 2020 and March 2021, investigators made several controlled purchases of illegal pills at the Washington Market, formerly located at 453 Washington St. in Hartford; JZ Tobacco, located at 25 New Britain Ave. in Hartford; and Prestige Market, located at 23 New Britain Ave. in Hartford.

She said Fernandez-Lopez was the primary seller of pills during the evening hours at JZ Tobacco, and possessed a firearm in connection with the offense.

On Dec. 20, 2020, investigators stopped a vehicle registered to Ray Urena, a co-defendant of Fernandez-Lopez, and found approximately 4,000 illegal pills and $51,000 in cash in a hidden “trap” beneath the front passenger seat of the car.

Urena and others were charged May 18, 2021.

On that date, searches of an apartment on Colonial Street in Hartford that was used by the drug trafficking organization, and two vehicles parked outside of the stash house, revealed more drugs, guns, and ammunition, Avery said.

A search of Urena’s residence in Waterbury revealed approximately $54,000.

Fernandez-Lopez has been detained since his arrest on Nov. 10, 2021.

On March 28, 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

He faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term.

Urena pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

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