Jury Finds Man Guilty Of Heroin Related Offenses: Feds

NAUGATUCK, CT — Francisco Lopez, 33, of Waterbury was found guilty of heroin distribution offenses on Monday, federal officials announced.

On social media, the Naugatuck Police Department said, "The Naugatuck Police would like to congratulate our federal partners at U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, who just announced the sentencing of Francisco Lopez age 33 of Waterbury."

According to the evidence disclosed during the trial, this matter stems from a joint investigation headed by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the Waterbury and Naugatuck Police Departments.

The investigation, which included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, physical surveillance and controlled purchases of narcotics, revealed that a Waterbury-based drug trafficking organization was receiving large quantities of heroin and cocaine from various suppliers and distributing narcotics in and around Waterbury, officials said.

Intercepted communications indicated that, on two occasions in December 2018, Lopez ordered 150 grams of heroin from two other members of the conspiracy, officials said. Three hundred grams of heroin is enough to produce 12,000 individual bags of heroin that can be sold for approximately $5 each on the street, officials said.

The federal jury found Lopez guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 100 grams or more of heroin, and one count of using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking crime.

On March 13, 2019, a grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment charging Lopez and 28 other individuals with various offenses related to the distribution of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine. Lopez has been detained since his arrest on March 20, 2019.

On March 21, 2019, in association with the arrests of several of Lopez’s codefendants, investigators seized approximately 3,000 bags of heroin, 400 grams of cocaine, 350 grams of fentanyl/heroin mixed, 400 grams of heroin, 10 grams of crack, 20 pounds of marijuana, fentanyl patches, a one-kilogram press, four handguns, approximately $120,000 in cash and four vehicles, federal authorities said.

He will be sentenced on April 27 and faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 44 years.