Hartford Heroin Dealer Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Federal Prison

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NAZARIEL GONZALEZ, also known as “Pito,” 29, of Crown Street, Hartford, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport to 66 months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, for using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of heroin, and for violating the terms of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction. GONZALEZ pleaded guilty on July 23, 2009.

This matter stems from “Operation Solid Gold,” a joint law enforcement investigation headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force. The year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of cocaine and heroin, and physical surveillance. As a result of the investigation, 55 individuals were charged with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine and heroin in and around Hartford.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 3, 2009, GONZALEZ was intercepted on the wiretap negotiating the purchase of heroin. The investigation revealed that GONZALEZ had acquired a significant quantity of heroin from a co-defendant, and then attempted to acquire more heroin, indicating to a second co-defendant that he would pay for all of it at the same time. However, GONZALEZ never intended to pay for the heroin and, instead, attempted to rob the second co-defendant when he would not provide GONZALEZ with more heroin. The robbery was thwarted.

GONZALEZ was released from the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons on November 17, 2008 after serving a 44-month term of imprisonment for conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and he was on supervised release at the time he committed the most recent offense in early 2009. Today, Judge Eginton ordered GONZALEZ to serve a statutory maximum prison term of 48 months for using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of heroin, and a consecutive 18-month sentence for violating the terms and conditions of his supervised release from the previous conviction.

GONZALEZ has been detained since his arrest on February 25, 2009.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force, the Statewide Cooperative Crime Control Task Force of the Connecticut State Police and the Hartford Police Department, with assistance from the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force of the Connecticut State Police, Connecticut State Police, Troop H, and the Connecticut Department of Correction. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brian P. Leaming and Geoffrey M. Stone.