California man gets 13 years for trafficking large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine into CT by mail
A California man has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for trafficking large quantities of fentanyl and cocaine into Connecticut.
Victor Rodriguez-Gomez, 49, also known as “Calami,” of Desert Hot Springs, California was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Hartford, where a judge ordered his prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
Rodriguez-Gomez was implicated in a narcotics trafficking operation in 2022 when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force identified suspicious packages that were being mailed to a New Britain address connected to Rodriguez-Gomez and his associate, Ramon Ramos-Acevedo, who resided in New Britain, according to federal officials.
Investigators obtained a search warrant to seize and open one of the packages, which had been mailed from California. Authorities found about 1 kilogram of fentanyl and 1 kilogram of heroin inside, federal officials said.
In July 2022, postal inspection authorities in San Bernardino, California, contacted Connecticut investigators and said they discovered that a package addressed to a residence on Willow Street in New Britain was searched and contained eight cell phones.
The following month, authorities conducted a controlled delivery of the package in New Britain and saw Rodriguez-Gomez and Ramos-Acevedo take possession of it.
Investigators later identified several more suspicious packages associated with Ramos-Acevedo. On Aug. 11, 2022, authorities saw Ramos-Acevedo in California mailing packages to an address in New Britain, officials said.
During the investigation, authorities learned that Rodriguez-Gomez had an associate who used a van to transport narcotics from California or another location in the southwestern area of the country to addresses in Connecticut that were associated with Ramos-Acevedo. On Aug. 25, 2022, investigators observed Ramos-Acevedo unloading items from the van in New Britain.
On Sept. 7, 2022, Connecticut State Police were assisting with surveillance when they stopped a vehicle that Ramos-Acevedo was driving in Newington for a motor vehicle violation, officials said. Rodriguez-Gomez was a passenger in the vehicle.
After a K-9 alerted to several items within the vehicle, a search revealed $179,578 and nine cell phones, according to federal officials. A subsequent search of a house in Farmington where Ramos-Acevedo reported living turned up an additional $30,426.
On Nov. 30, 2022, members of the Iowa State Patrol stopped Rodriguez-Gomez’s associate, Martin Cooper, who was driving the van that had been identified months earlier, according to federal officials. Authorities searched the van and found about 22 kilograms of cocaine and 2 kilograms of fentanyl, which was being taken to Ramos-Acevedo in New Britain, officials said.
Rodriguez-Gomez was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in December to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. He had been detained since December 2022.
Ramos-Acevedo pleaded guilty to the same charge in January and has not yet been sentenced.
Cooper pleaded guilty to a related charge in the Southern District of Iowa and also awaits sentencing.