New Haven fentanyl dealer sentenced to prison

A man has been sentenced to five years in prison for distributing fentanyl in New Haven, federal officials said.

Nelson Santini, 28, of New Haven faced sentencing Wednesday in federal court in Hartford, where a judge ordered he serve four years of supervised release upon his release from prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. The first six months of the supervised release period must be served as home confinement, a judge ordered.

According to federal officials, the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force on Aug. 13, 2021, made a controlled purchase of about 50 grams of fentanyl from Santini after identifying him as a heroin and fentanyl trafficker in New Haven.

Santini was arrested on state charges on Dec. 10, 2021, when authorities searched a car he had been driving and found 93 individual dose bags of heroin, more than 100 bags of cocaine and a loaded 9mm handgun, federal officials said.

Prior to his sentencing Wednesday, Santini had been detained since April 2022. In December, he pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of 40 grams or more fentanyl.