New Haven Man Gets 12 Years For Trafficking Cocaine Via US Mail: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT — A 33-year-old New Haven man was sentenced to 12 years in prison trafficking cocaine through the U.S. mail, federal prosecutors said.

Jose L. Gerena will serve 144 months followed by five years of supervised release and must pay a $10,000 fine, according to U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, Vanessa Roberts Avery.

According to Avery, court documents and statements made in court, in November 2020, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force executed a federal search warrant on a suspicious package that had been sent through the U.S. Mail from New Haven to an address in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

The package contained $102,450 in cash, Avery noted.

The investigation revealed that Gerena led an extensive drug trafficking organization and supervised the receipt of numerous parcels containing kilogram quantities of cocaine that had been shipped from Puerto Rico, the resale of the cocaine to others, and the shipment of narcotics proceeds to Puerto Rico, Avery said. Gerena was responsible for trafficking more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, federal prosecutors said.

Federal investigators said the organization regularly received cocaine shipments at various addresses in New Haven. In August 2021, investigators intercepted two parcels sent through the mail, each containing a kilogram of cocaine, Avery said. They were addressed to addresses on Poplar Street and Exchange Street in New Haven, she noted. Gerena was arrested on August 10, 2021, after investigators made a controlled delivery of a parcel containing a kilogram of cocaine to the Poplar Street address, according to the U.S. Attorney.

Gerena, who's been detained since his arrest, pleaded guilty in November 2022 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, Avery said.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with the assistance of the New Haven Police Department. The Task Force includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden, and Town of Groton Police Departments.