Hartford Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Federal Prison for Role in Narcotics Trafficking Ring

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, 31, of Chadwick Avenue, Hartford, was sentenced yesterday, September 1, by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to188 months of imprisonment, followed by eight years of supervised release, for distributing cocaine. On January 23, 2009, RODRIGUEZ pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine.

The charge against RODRIGUEZ stems from “Operation Quiet Corner,” a 12-month, FBI and Connecticut State Police investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating primarily in northeastern Connecticut. The investigation included the use of confidential informants, controlled purchases of drugs and court-authorized telephone wiretaps. On April 9, 2008, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging RODRIGUEZ and 21 other individuals with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, RODRIGUEZ, who sometimes resided in Putnam, was one of the leaders within this drug trafficking conspiracy and regularly obtained kilogram quantities of cocaine from two separate sources of supply in New York. On occasion, RODRIGUEZ also transformed, or “cooked,” large quantities of cocaine into crack cocaine for distribution to others. The investigation also revealed that RODRIGUEZ distributed large quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine to numerous customers in the Hartford and Putnam areas.

RODRIGUEZ has been detained since his arrest on March 31, 2008.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Statewide Cooperative Crime Control Task Force and the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force of the Connecticut State Police, with assistance from the Hartford Police Department and Connecticut State Police, Troop D. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.