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New Britain resident Rafael Martinez, age 31, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Jan. 25 in Hartford federal court to fentanyl distribution and firearm possession charges, according to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut.
Martinez was identified in 2022 as a large-scale distributor of the drug by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and was the subject of an investigation that eventually found that he was distributing the drug from his residence in New Britain on Hayes Street, as well as storing and processing the drug at an apartment in Hartford on Sargeant Street.
On Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, a court-authorized search warrant was executed on the New Britain residence, where authorities found Martinez throwing fentanyl from the living room window.
The search ultimately yielded:
- Around 3,000 wax folds of fentanyl;
- Additional loose quantities of fentanyl and crack cocaine;
- Narcotics paraphernalia;
- Two handguns;
- Ammunition;
- $28,777 in cash.
When authorities also checked to see what Martinez had managed to throw out of his window, they found around 200 grams of fentanyl as well as items used to package and process narcotics.
Because Martinez was already convicted by the state for an earlier felony narcotics offense, that also made it a violation of federal law for him to possess his handguns. He has been in prison since the day of the search.
Ultimately, Martinez pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, as well as one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He faces decades in prison when he is sentenced on Thursday, April 13.
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