'Prolific' North-Central Connecticut Dealer Gets 15-Plus Years

NORTH CENTRAL, CT — A narcotics case involving police work from several north-central Connecticut departments has led to a prison sentence of more than 15 years for a man called a "prolific" dealer by a federal prosecutor.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that 34-year-old Julio Oliveras, who goes by the street name of "Cuzzo Jay," was sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 186 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for narcotics trafficking and firearm possession offenses.

The investigation involved several federal agencies and the Manchester, Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic police departments.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in August 2017, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force, of which the area departments are members, launched an investigation into a "drug trafficking organization" that was selling "large" amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine in Hartford.

Oliveras was identified as the leader of the organization, case records show.

The investigation, which included approximately six months of court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of narcotics and surveillance, revealed that Oliveras and his associates supplied "distribution quantities" of narcotics to several Hartford-area drug dealers, and used multiple locations in Hartford to process, store and distribute narcotics, according to cse records.

Oliveras and other members of the organization were arrested on July 19, 2018.

On that date, investigators executed 10 search warrants and seized approximately 2.7 kilograms of fentanyl, 1 kilogram of heroin, approximately 500 grams of crack cocaine, 100 grams of cocaine, eight firearms, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, cash, and "other evidence of narcotics trafficking activity," according to case rercords.

The drugs and firearms were found at a "stash house" Oliveras maintained, a storage unit he rented, and the residences of his associates.

On Aug. 2, 2018, a grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment charging Oliveras and 15 co-defendants with various offenses. Oliveras has been detained since his arrest.

On Oct. 22, 2019, Oliveras entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl and a quantity of cocaine, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.