Man With West Hartford Ties Gets 12 Years In Fentanyl Case

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A man implicated in a drug trafficking case with West Hartford connections has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

Leonard C. Boyle, acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that Juan Reyes, 28, who last resided in West Hartford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 151 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, in a trafficking case involving fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force and the Norwich Police Department launched an investigation after several fatal and non-fatal overdoses occurred in a short period of time in eastern Connecticut. Investigators determined that, beginning at least as early as January 2017 and continuing to July 2018, Reyes worked with Michael Nieves to supply heroin and fentanyl to other distributors, including individuals who regularly traveled from eastern Connecticut to Hartford to purchase the drugs, case records show.

The distributors then sold the drug to customers in the Norwich and New London areas.

On July 5, 2017, Norwich Police officers responded to a residence on the report of an overdose. The victim, a 34-year-old male, was transported to the hospital where he died. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner subsequently determined the victim's cause of death to be "acute fentanyl intoxication."

The investigation revealed that Christopher Dubicki, of Norwich, sold the fentanyl to the victim after previously purchasing it from Reyes and Nieves.

Investigators have connected six other overdoses, three fatal and three non-fatal, to drugs that were supplied by Reyes and Nieves.

Reyes has been detained since his federal arrest on June 29, 2018. On June 9, 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

Nieves, 30, of Hartford, pleaded guilty to the same charge and is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday. He is also detained.

Dubicki pleaded guilty to fentanyl, heroin and cocaine distribution charges and is also detained while awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for Nov. 16.