Manchester Man Gets Five Years-Plus In Fed Drug Dealing Case

MANCHESTER, CT — A federal judge has given a Manchester man a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence in a drug trafficking case.

David X. Sullivan, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Jose C. Rivera, 37, of Manchester, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 66 months in prison and three years of supervised release for narcotics trafficking and firearm possession offenses.

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According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2024, the FBI's Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and the New Britain Police Department investigated a drug trafficking organization, headed by Wilfredo Ortiz, that was operating out of Supreme Automotive, a car dealership located on Main Street in New Britain. The investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, physical and electronic surveillance, and several controlled purchases of narcotics, primarily cocaine, from Ortiz and other members of the conspiracy, case records show.

During the investigation, law enforcement officials identified Nelson Alejandro-Capo as a supplier of cocaine to Ortiz, according to case records. Alejandro-Capo, using co-conspirator Eli Samuel O’Farrill-Fernandez as a middleman, supplied Ortiz with approximately 6 kilograms of cocaine, according to case records. On Oct. 10, 2024, Alejandro-Capo met with Rivera at Rivera’s former residence in Rocky Hill. On Oct. 26, 2024, Rivera was intercepted over a wiretap talking with O'Farrill-Fernandez and discussing the purchase of 100 grams of cocaine, according to case records.

Rivera, Ortiz, O’Farrill-Fernandez, and several other members of the drug trafficking organization were arrested on Nov. 14, 2024.

In association with the arrests, investigators conducted court authorized searches of Supreme Automotive and residences and other locations connected to the organization and seized more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, more than 200 grams of fentanyl, approximately 30 grams of heroin, a kilogram press, seven firearms, ammunition, approximately $75,000 in cash, and 26 vehicles, according to case records.

A search of Rivera's Rocky Hill residence revealed approximately 206 grams of fentanyl, approximately 278 grams of cocaine, drug processing materials, a loaded handgun and an additional gun magazine, and $13,364 in cash, according to case records.

On Nov. 25, Rivera pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Released on a $150,000 bond, he is required to report to prison on July 6.

Ortiz, Alejandro-Capo, and O-Farrill-Fernandez pleaded guilty and are currently serving prison terms of 135 months, 144 months, and 120 months, respectively.