HARTFORD, Conn. — A New Britain man was sentenced in Hartford by a U.S. District Judge on Tuesday to 11 years and three months in prison for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
48-year-old Roman Ramos-Acevedo’s sentence is followed by five years of supervised release.
According to prosecutors, court documents and statements made in court in 2022 note that the U.S. Postal Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force noticed suspicious packages were being mailed to a New Britain address connected to Ramos-Acevedo and his associate Victor “Calami” Rodriguez-Gomez, who lived in Desert Hot Springs, Calif.
A court-authorized search of a package mailed from California to New Britain revealed about one kilogram of fentanyl and one kilogram of heroin, according to prosecutors, who said that in July 2022, task force investigators in San Bernardino, Calif. contacted Connecticut investigators to report that a court-authorized search of a package that was addressed to a residence on Willow Street in New Britain discovered eight cell phones.
Prosecutors said that on Aug. 1, 2022, investigators conducted a controlled delivery of the package in New Britain and saw Ramos-Acevedo and Rodriguez-Gomez take possession of it. After identifying several other suspicious packages associated with Ramos-Acevedo, on Aug. 11, 2022, investigators saw him in California mailing packages to a New Britain address, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, investigators developed evidence that Rodriguez-Gomez had an associate who used a van to drive narcotics from California, or another location in the southwest U.S., to addresses in Connecticut associated with Ramos-Acevedo, who was seen by investigators unloading items from the van in New Britain.
While assisting with surveillance on Sept. 7, 2022, state police stopped a vehicle Ramos-Acevedo was riding in somewhere in Newington for a motor vehicle violation, prosecutors said, noting that after a K-9 alerted state police to several items in the vehicle, a search revealed $179,578 in cash and nine cellphones. An additional $30,426 in cash was found in a Farmington house where Ramos-Acevedo said he was living, prosecutors said.
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An associate of Rodriguez-Gomez was driving the van that was previously identified on Nov. 30, 2022, when the Iowa State Patrol stopped the van, according to prosecutors, who noted that the Iowa State Patrol discovered 22 kilograms of cocaine and two kilograms of fentanyl destined for Ramos-Acevedo in New Britain.
Ramos-Acevedo was arrested on Dec. 1, 2022, and has been detained since, prosecutors said, adding that he pleaded guilty on Jan. 22 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez-Gomez pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 13 years in prison on April 11.
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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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