Ivan “Ghost” Rosario, 34, of Bridgeport, was sentenced in Hartford district court to 210 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for his role in the destruction of evidence that was to be used against him at his trial.
An investigation into drug sales in Connecticut led police to Rosario, who was in charge of a Bridgeport-based heroin trafficking operation. Between April 2015 and March 2017, Rosario’s organization received at least 30 kilograms of heroin that was transported from Mexico into Fairfield County hidden inside motorcycles with secret compartments.
During the investigation, approximately $100,000 was seized from a hidden compartment in one of Rosario’s cars, and approximately $90,000 in cash that was hidden in his family members’ homes.
A grand jury indicted Rosario and six others for heroin trafficking and other drug offenses on March 16, 2017.
U.S. Attorney John Durham said that between March and May 2017, following his arrest, while detained in federal custody and awaiting trial, Rosario schemed to destroy potential evidence. Rosario used threats to force his child’s mother to destroy her cellphone because it contained “dangerous” information that would be used against him at trial.
That cellphone would be discarded in the Long Island Sound.
On April 24 last year, a jury found Rosario guilty of one count of causing or inducing any person to destroy evidence, though the jury could not reach a verdict on one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.
Rosario was also found not guilty of one count of witness tampering and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He’s been detained since his arrest on March 3, 2017.
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