Man Deported After Drug Case Charged With Illegal Re-entry In West Hartford: Feds

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A Dominican national previously deported after a federal drug trafficking conviction in the Hartford area has been charged with illegally reentering the United States after investigators stopped him during a drug trafficking probe in West Hartford, federal authorities said.

Yunior Benavides, 49, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with unlawful re-entry after deportation, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan for the District of Connecticut and Michael J. Krol, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England.

According to court documents and statements in court, Benavides was among several people charged in 2009 with federal offenses tied to a narcotics distribution conspiracy in the Hartford area.

He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 months in prison. After completing his sentence, he was deported to the Dominican Republic in November 2013.

Authorities allege Benavides later returned to the United States without authorization.

On March 6, Homeland Security Investigations agents stopped a vehicle in West Hartford as part of a drug trafficking investigation.

Benavides, who was driving, was identified as being unlawfully present in the United States and was taken into custody, officials said.

Benavides appeared Thursday, March 12, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford, who ordered him detained pending further proceedings.

If convicted, Benavides faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.

Federal officials said the case is part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration, cartels, and transnational criminal organizations.

For information on the case, click on this link.