West Haven Man, His Mother Trafficked Cocaine Through US Mail: Feds

WEST HAVEN, CT — A West Haven man and his mother, a New Haven man, and a woman in Puerto Rico are facing federal cocaine trafficking offenses, according to federal investigators and prosecutors. It's alleged the cocaine was shipped via the U.S. Postal Service between Puerto Rico and Connecticut.

A grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment Thursday after an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, the Acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut said.

Jean Mangual-Castro, 34, of West Haven, Enid Castro, 52, of West Haven, Jashon Spearman, 34, of New Haven, and Maria Alejandra Perez Torres, 21, of Villalba, Puerto Rico were all charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

If convicted, based on the quantity of cocaine attributable to each defendant, prosecutors said, Mangual-Castro faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. Spearman, Castro and Perez Torres each face a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison.

The indictment also charges Mangual-Castro, Castro and Perez Torres with one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison, according to prosecutors.

As alleged in court documents, statements made in court and the U.S. Attorney, a federal law enforcement investigation found that Mangual-Castro was "orchestrating shipments of cocaine through the U.S. Mail from Puerto Rico."

On Dec. 20, 2021, after investigators identified that a suspicious package had been delivered to the West Haven residence of Enid Castro, Mangual-Castro’s mother, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of the residence and seized approximately two kilograms of cocaine, a Rolex watch, jewelry, and approximately $2,900 in cash, federal prosecutors said.

During the investigation, law enforcement also seized, at another location, around three kilograms of cocaine that had been mailed from Puerto Rico to Connecticut at Mangual-Castro’s direction, per the U.S. Attorney. Prosecutors also allege that Perez Torres mailed packages containing cocaine to Connecticut, and that Spearman received and distributed cocaine that he had got from Mangual-Castro.

Mangual-Castro has been locked up since his arrest on a federal criminal complaint in December 2021 and is scheduled to arraigned Thursday afternoon. Spearman has been in jail since his arrest Feb. 4. In a related case, he and seven others were charged with narcotics distribution offenses: law enforcement seized approximately 19 kilograms of cocaine, more than 7,000 bags of fentanyl, and more than $780,000 in cash in that case, per prosecutors. Spearman was in U.S. District Court in Hartford Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty to the new charges.

Enid Castro was arrested April 22, and was released on a $50,000 bond pending trial.

Perez Torres was arrested in Puerto Rico on April 21, was released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in Hartford on May 10.

Myriad area police departments were part of the investigation with the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force including New Haven, Milford, East Haven, and West Haven police departments.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking 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.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony E. Kaplan and Kenneth L. Gresham through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program.

U.S. Attorney for CT Leonard Boyle "stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

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