BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A man formerly of Reading, Pa. pleaded guilty in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday to conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, heroin and cocaine, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Israel Mendoza, 44, also known as “D-Nice” and “Israel Mandosa,” will be sentenced on March 10, 2025, and faces a maximum prison term of 20 years for using the U.S. Postal Service to mail narcotics to and from Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2018, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force started an investigation into a narcotics trafficking operation based in Hartford that used U.S. Mail to ship parcels of drugs and drug proceeds.
Investigators say that Mendoza supplied Bloomfield resident Michael Copeland with sizable quantities of cocaine and that Copeland, under Mendoza’s direction, mailed parcels of cash to associates in California.
Prosecutors note that in September and October 2018, U.S. Postal Inspectors in California intercepted and seized two parcels, each containing around $13,000 in cash, and that Copeland sent packages from Connecticut to addresses in the Fresno area. After analyzing postal records, investigators identified dozens of additional parcels with ties to the drug trafficking network that are suspected to have contained narcotics or drug proceeds.
Investigators seized a parcel containing close to 500 grams of cocaine in February 2019 that had been mailed from California to a Bloomfield residence connected to Copeland.
According to prosecutors, Mendoza worked with others such as Neliobet DeJesus and Danny Rhodes in the Hartford area to distribute heroin and cocaine. After DeJesus moved to Orlando, investigators found a mail parcel that was destined to arrive at an Orlando address linked to DeJesus. After receiving the court’s permission to open the package, investigators say they found around 500 grams of cocaine and approximately five grams of fentanyl.
A grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment on Oct. 31, 2019, charging Mendoza, Copeland, DeJesus and Rhodes with narcotics trafficking offenses, but Mendoza remained a fugitive until being arrested on Aug. 14, 2023, in California. He has been detained since then.
Prosecutors say that Copeland, DeJesus and Rhodes pleaded guilty previously. Rhodes was sentenced to eight months in prison on Dec. 8, 2021, Copeland was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Dec. 16, 2021, and DeJesus was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment on March 7, 2022.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force, which consists of 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 Groton Police Departments.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Connecticut State Police and Hartford Police Department also assisted investigators.
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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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