Drug Dealer From West Hartford Going To Prison

HARTFORD/WEST HARTFORD, CT — A heroin dealer from West Hartford will spend 13 years behind bars following his federal court sentencing earlier this week.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, announced Dwayne Thompson, 37, of West Hartford, was sentenced Wednesday by in U.S. District Court in Hartford to 156 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for heroin trafficking offenses.

According to the evidence presented in a trial in Hartford, in July 2017, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force received information Thompson’s associate, Jose Carrasquillo, was interested in acquiring heroin to distribute, Avery said.

Carrasquillo, working with Thompson, subsequently agreed to purchase 3 kilograms of heroin, for $42,000 per kilogram, from an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a heroin supplier, she said.

On Aug. 22, 2017, Thompson and Carrasquillo, arriving in separate vehicles, met in South Windsor with an individual working with law enforcement to complete the transaction, according to Avery.

Thompson was arrested after he was found in possession of a firearm and $126,200 in cash.

Carrasquillo, who fled from the scene at a high rate of speed, surrendered to law enforcement two days later, Avery said.

On June 16, 2022, a judge found Thompson guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and one count of attempt to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.

Thompson has been detained since that date.

On March 1, 2022, Carrasquillo, of Wethersfield, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. He awaits sentencing.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic police departments.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Leaming and Robert S. Ruff.