United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Waterbury, Conn. - Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DOMINGO GUZMAN, 45, last residing in Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 114 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for his role in a fentanyl trafficking ring, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in July 2019, the DEA’s Hartford Task Force began investigating a Mexican-based drug trafficking organization that was distributing fentanyl and heroin in Connecticut.  The investigation revealed that members of the organization were receiving kilogram-quantities of narcotics, primarily fentanyl, from a source of supply, and then distributing the drug to various narcotics traffickers who sold the drug to street-level distributors.  Guzman collected narcotics proceeds on behalf of members of this organization.  A money broker in Brooklyn, New York, assisted in laundering the narcotics proceeds before they were transferred to leaders of the drug trafficking organization.  Between August and October 2019, investigators seized more than $200,000 in cash from members of the drug trafficking organization.

Members of the organization used several locations to store, process and package fentanyl for street stale, including office space on Pratt Street in Hartford, an apartment in the Asylum Hill neighborhood in Hartford, and an apartment in New Britain.  On March 13, 2020, investigators searched an apartment on South Street in West Hartford that a co-defendant of Guzman used to process, package and store narcotics, and seized approximately 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl and approximately 500 wax folds of the drug.

Guzman and several co-defendants were arrested on April 28, 2020.  On that date, investigators seized approximately $100,000 in cash, a firearm, several thousand wax folds of suspected fentanyl, and numerous items used in the processing and packaging of narcotics.

Guzman has been detained since his arrest.

On June 3, 2020, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Guzman and nine others with narcotics distribution and money laundering offenses.  On November 22, 2021, Guzman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

Guzman’s criminal history includes state drug convictions for drug, firearm, larceny and other offenses, and a federal conviction for operating an extensive cocaine and heroin trafficking enterprise out of a previous residence in Bridgeport.  Guzman was sentenced to 188 months of imprisonment for his prior federal conviction, was released from prison in August 2019, and was on supervised release at the time of his arrest for his conduct in this case.

The DEA’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic Police Departments.  Agencies assisting the investigation include the DEA New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) Strike Force and the New York Police Department.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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