RI Man Gets 5 Years in Federal Prison For Trafficking Fentanyl

HARTFORD, CT — Convicted fentanyl trafficker Juan “Money” Hazard was sentenced to serve 5 years in federal prison, the US Attorney announced Monday. Hazard, 42, was arrested in 2017 in Ledyard, Connecticut during a traffic stop when police found 12 ounces of the deadly narcotic inside his vehicle. His young child was also in the car.

United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut John H. Durham announced Hazard was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for trafficking fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in the spring of 2017, Hazard, of Cranston, Rhode Island, agreed to meet an individual at a location in Ledyard to conduct a narcotics transaction. On April 26, 2017, investigators stopped Hazard’s vehicle in Ledyard. Hazard was arrested after investigators located a wooden box containing three shrink-wrapped packages containing a total of approximately 338 grams of fentanyl in the rear of the vehicle.

Hazard’s young child was in the back seat of the car at the time of the offense, prosecutors said.
Hazard has a lengthy criminal record, most notably in Rhode Island. According to court documents, when deciding whether Hazard should have been offered bail after the 2017 arrest, according to court documents his prior criminal history including crimes allegedly committed while on probation or parole, as well as a history of violence and use of weapons among other factors, had him denied bail.

Hazard has been detained since his federal arrest on May 4, 2018.

On September 17, 2018, Hazard pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Waterford, Ledyard, Town of Groton and City of Groton Police Departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Stolfi Collins.