Defendant In North Central Connecticut Heroin Case Gets 6 Years

NORTH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT — A defendant in a large-scale narcotics operation that operated, in-part, throughout north central Connecticut was sentenced to more than six years in prison Wednesday.

Leonard C. Boyle, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that 40-year-old Angel DeJesus-Concepcion, a citizen of the Dominican Republic whose last listed U.S. address is in East Hartford, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 80 months in prison for heroin and fentanyl trafficking and immigration offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in October 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force began an investigation of an organization that was trafficking large quantities of heroin, fentanyl and other narcotics in Connecticut and western Massachusetts. The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of narcotics and physical surveillance, revealed that members of the organization were receiving bulk quantities of heroin and fentanyl from out-of-state suppliers. They then stored, processed and packaged the heroin/fentanyl in multiple locations, including apartments located at 280 Collins Street in Hartford ,where some members of the organization also resided, and then distributed the drug in the Hartford area, and also the Springfield and Holyoke ares in Massachusetts.

A significant amount of drug trafficking activity occurred at the Neighborhood Supermarket, located at 316 Farmington Avenue in Hartford, which was owned and operated by DeJesus-Concepcion's girlfriend, Gisel De La Cruz, according to case records. Investigators made multiple controlled purchases of heroin and fentanyl from De La Cruz, DeJesus-Concepcion and other members of the drug trafficking organization in and around the Neighborhood Supermarket, according top case records.

DeJesus had previously been deported from the U.S. after a conviction for a federal narcotics offense. The investigation revealed that De La Cruz paid $20,000 to smuggle DeJesus-Concepcion back into the U.S. and, in December 2016, DeJesus-Concepcion illegally reentered the country using fake Venezuelan identification documents, Boyle said.

During the investigation, law enforcement officials executed 12 search warrants in Connecticut and Massachusetts and seized approximately 10 kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, much of which was packaged for resale in hundreds of thousands of bags, case records show. Investigators also seized numerous vials of Xylazine, which is a horse tranquilizer used by narcotics traffickers as a heroin additive, according to case records.

Seven firearms also were seized, case records show..

A total of 14 people have been charged with various narcotics, firearms and immigration offenses as a result of the investigation, Boyle said.

DeJesus-Concepcion has been detained since his arrest on June 29, 2017. On Sept. 17, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and one count of illegal reentry of a removed alien.

De La Cruz pleaded guilty to related charges and has been sentenced.