2 Waterbury residents sentenced in drug ring

Two people were sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday for their roles in a fentanyl and heroin trafficking ring based in Waterbury, federal officials said.

Elias Sanchez-martinez, 31, and Imirici “Mimi” Sosa-ortiz, 36, appeared in court in Hartford on Wednesday and were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant. Sanchez-martinez was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison, and Sosa-ortiz was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Sanchez-martinez and Sosa-ortiz were two of 17 people who were charged as part of an extensive investigation into a Waterbury-based drug trafficking operation led by Nestor Sosa-ortiz, officials said.

Nestor Sosa-ortiz was arrested in New York City in May 2019 on a separate federal heroin and fentanyl trafficking charge but continued to control his drug network while behind bars, records show.

He used cellphones smuggled into prison to communicate with co-conspirators, including his sisters Imirici Sosa-ortiz and Isamelis Sosa-ortiz, officials said.

Imirici Sosa-ortiz helped manage a drug operation run out of an apartment on Bishop Street, where kilogram-quantities of both drugs were being stored, officials said.

The DEA’S New Haven Task Force and the Waterbury Police Department used court-authorized wiretaps, conducted surveillance and made controlled purchases of narcotics to uncover that the drug operation was receiving large amounts of fentanyl and heroin from suppliers in New York and Connecticut and distributing the drugs through a network of people, including Sanchez-martinez, officials said.

Sanchez-martinez,

Imirici Sosa-ortiz, Isamelis Sosa-ortiz and several others were arrested on Oct. 29, 2019, when investigators searched the Bishop Street apartment and four other spots and seized about six kilograms of fentanyl and heroin, about 100,000 bags of fentanyl and heroin packaged for sale, about 1,000 fentanyl pills disguised as Percocet pills, about $50,000 in cash and a firearm, officials said.

Nearly 50 grams of fentanyl were seized from Sanchez-martinez’s home on Charlevoux Street, officials said.

Sanchez-martinez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was detained from his arrest to June 20, 2020, when he was released on a $100,000 bond due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He fled to the Dominican Republic, where he was rearrested on June 9, 2021, officials said.

He has remained in custody since that date and on Aug. 29, 2022, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.

Sanchez-martinez was sentenced to a total of 135 months in prison and faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term, officials said.

Judge Bryant also ordered the forfeiture of Sanchez-martinez’s bond and the five individuals who signed Sanchez-martinez’s bond are responsible for paying $100,000, according to officials.

Imirici Sosa-ortiz has been detained since her arrest and pleaded guilty on Jan. 22 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and 400 grams or more of fentanyl, officials said. She was sentenced to a total of 94 months in prison.

Her sister, Isamelis Sosa-ortiz, was sentenced to 94 months of imprisonment on Dec. 21, 2022, officials said.

Nestor Sosa-ortiz pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, according to officials.