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Ricardo Reyes, also known as “Rick the Ruler,” age 41, of Hartford, was sentenced to prison on Thursday, Feb. 11, to be followed by five years of supervised release, said John Durham, U.S. States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2018, the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force began investigating Reyes, a member of the Los Solidos street gang, who was distributing fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and crack in the area of Park Street and Hungerford Street in Hartford.
In Sept. 2018, Reyes was arrested by Hartford Police on state charges after they found him in possession of a firearm and more than 250 bags of heroin/fentanyl.
Between January and June 2019, while Reyes was released on bond in his state case, investigators conducted multiple controlled purchases of narcotics from Reyes.
Wiretaps confirmed that Reyes was distributing narcotics to numerous customers, and identified individuals who supplied drugs to Reyes and associates who sold drugs on his behalf, the complaint said.
Intercepted communications also revealed that Norman Klosek of Enfield was acting as a “straw purchaser” of firearms for Reyes.
In April 2019, Reyes picked up Klosek in Enfield and drove to a licensed gun dealer in Newington, where Klosek, who had a valid state firearm permit, purchased two handguns. Klosek then provided the guns to Reyes after the purchase.
Later that day, investigators conducted a traffic stop of Reyes’ vehicle in New Britain and seized the two firearms. A search of the vehicle also revealed 450 bags of suspected heroin/fentanyl, more than one pound of marijuana, and $1,160 in cash. Reyes was charged with state offenses, released on bond, and resumed his drug trafficking activity.
Reyes and several co-defendants were arrested on federal criminal complaints in June 2019. At the time, investigators seized two additional guns that had been purchased by Klosek, one that was in Reyes’ car and one that was in a Rowe Avenue residence that Reyes’ used as a stash location.
Investigators also seized 3,500 bags of fentanyl from the stash house and some $6,000 from Reyes’ residence.
Reyes has been detained since his federal arrest.
On Wednesday, March 4, 2020, Reyes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 28 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack”), and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
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