New Britain man gets 10 years for role in Mexican-based drug ring

A New Britain man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for trafficking fentanyl, according to federal authorities.

Armando Gonzalez, 40, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to four years of supervised release, according to federal authorities.

Authorities said, citing court documents and statements made in court, that the DEA Hartford Task Force began investigating a Mexican-based drug trafficking organization that was distributing fentanyl and heroin in Connecticut in July 2018. “The investigation revealed that Gonzalez and other members of the organization received kilogram-quantities of narcotics, primarily fentanyl, from a source in Mexico, and then distributed the drug to street-level distributors.”

Further, organization members delivered “cash generated from the sale of narcotics to a money broker in Brooklyn, New York, who assisted in laundering the narcotics proceeds before they were transferred to leaders of the drug trafficking organization,” federal authorities said in a statement. “Between August and October 2019, investigators seized more than $200,000 in cash from members of the drug trafficking organization.”

Gonzalez and “his associate, David Cintron, 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,” authorities said in the statement.

Cintron was arrested on state charges in December 2019 after he was allegedly found in possession of approximately 4,860 wax paper sleeves of fentanyl, 90 grams of unpackaged fentanyl, and other items used to process and package narcotics, the statement said.

Gonzalez, Cintron and three associates were arrested on federal charges on April 28, 2020, when investigators searched the New Britain apartment and “seized numerous bags of suspected fentanyl, items used to process and package narcotics, a 9mm firearm, 9mm ammunition, and cash.” Cintron was located in the bathroom of his Manchester residence, flushing suspected fentanyl in the toilet.

A grand jury returned an indictment on June 3, 2020, charging Gonzalez, Cintron and eight others with narcotics distribution and money laundering offenses, federal authorities said. Gonzalez pleaded guilty on March 28, 2022 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

Gonzalez has been detained since his arrest. Cintron pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.