BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A man from Springfield, Mass. was sentenced in Bridgeport Tuesday to seven years in federal prison for violating his supervised release by trafficking fentanyl and cocaine, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Yoanni “Cuba” Suarez, 48, will have his prison sentence followed by four years of supervised release.
Court documents and statements made in court revealed that Suarez was previously sentenced in Hartford federal court to six-and-a-half years in prison and four years of supervised release in April 2016. He was released from federal prison in 2021.
Prosecutors said that in July 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force launched an investigation into a large-scale drug trafficking organization that was moving kilogram quantities of fentanyl and cocaine in Connecticut. The investigation included court-authorized wiretaps, physical and electronical surveillance, controlled drug purchases and other investigative techniques.
As a result of the investigation, it was discovered that the head of the criminal organization was receiving narcotics from sources in California via Mexico. It also used Suarez’s son, Giovanny Jorrin, to deliver drug proceeds back to his sources, according to prosecutors.
In February 2023, investigators seized two packages that Jorrin mailed to California from a West Hartford post office. One of the packages included around $6,500 in cash and two new Apple iPhones, while the other contained around $38,300 in cash, prosecutors said.
As the investigation continued, law enforcement found out that Suarez had a previous relationship with an identified narcotics source of supply. Prosecutors said that while Suarez was on federal supervised release, he assisted with the arrangement of packages of fentanyl and cocaine to be shipped to Connecticut. He also reportedly coordinated the sale of drugs to others in and around Hartford while helping collect and ship drug proceeds back to the same source.
Suarez was arrested on June 7, 2023, and has been detained ever since. Prosecutors said he pleaded guilty on June 13, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Jorrin pleaded guilty to a related charge and was sentenced to two years in prison on June 7.
The investigation was led by the DEA’s Hartford Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Hartford Task Force features personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, Connecticut State Police and the police departments in Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester, Enfield, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Windsor Locks.
The case is being prosecuted through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program, which aims to identify, disrupt and dismantle drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations using a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach leveraging the strengths of law enforcement at all levels.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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