Kilo Of Fentanyl Seized In Manchester Turns Into 3-Year Sentence

MANCHESTER, CT — An accused drug courier who had a kilogram of fentanyl intercepted in a Manchester parking lot has received a three-year prison sentence, the federal prosecutor in the case said.

Leonard C. Boyle, acting United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced Tuesday that Marco Rivera-Mejia, 36, a citizen of Honduras last residing in East Hartford, had been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven a day earlier to 36 months in prison for trafficking fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2019, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Hartford Task Force developed evidence that Rivera-Mejia was a narcotics courier for a supplier in Mexico. In September 2019, investigators stopped Rivera-Mejia's vehicle and seized approximately $6,000 in cash he was carrying in suspected narcotics proceeds. Rivera-Mejia was released after the traffic stop.

At about 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 24, Rivera-Mejia was arrested after he arrived at a parking lot in Manchester in possession of a kilogram of fentanyl that he intended to deliver to another person, according to case records.

Rivera-Mejia has been detained since his arrest. On June 1, 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

Rivera-Mejia, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2007, faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term, Boyle said.

The DEA's Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic police departments.