Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DANIEL ESTREMERA, 42, last residing in East Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 138 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in a fentanyl trafficking ring, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in July 2019, the DEA’s Hartford Task Force began investigating a Mexican-based drug trafficking organization that was distributing fentanyl and heroin in Connecticut. The investigation revealed that members of the organization were receiving kilogram-quantities of narcotics, primarily fentanyl, from a source of supply, and then distributing the drug to various narcotics traffickers, including Estremera. Estremera and others then sold the drug to street-level distributors.
Members of the organization delivered cash generated from the sale of narcotics to a money broker in Brooklyn, New York, who assisted in laundering the narcotics proceeds before they were transferred to leaders of the drug trafficking organization. On August 14, 2019, investigators stopped Estremera’s car, after Estremera met with a drug associate, and seized $14,960 in cash. On August 28, 2019, after observing Estremera transferring a shopping bag to another individual, investigators stopped the other individual’s vehicle and seized $72,570 in cash that was contained in the bag. Between August and October 2019, law enforcement seized more than $100,000 in cash from other members of the drug trafficking organization.
Members of the organization used several locations to store, process and package fentanyl for street stale, including office space on Pratt Street in Hartford, an apartment in the Asylum Hill neighborhood in Hartford, and an apartment in New Britain. Estremera used an apartment on South Street in West Hartford to process, package and store narcotics. On March 13, 2020, investigators searched the apartment and seized approximately 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl and approximately 500 wax folds of the drug.
Estremera and several co-defendants were arrested on April 28, 2020. On that date, investigators seized approximately $100,000 in cash, a firearm, several thousand wax folds of suspected fentanyl, and numerous items used in the processing and packaging of narcotics.
Estremera has been detained since his arrest.
On June 3, 2020, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Estremera and nine others with narcotics distribution and money laundering offenses. On July 20, 2021, Estremera pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Estremera’s criminal history includes a state drug conviction for which he served a 42-month prison sentence, and a federal conviction stemming from his role in a Hartford-area heroin trafficking ring. In February 2009, was sentenced in federal court 120 months of imprisonment, followed by eight years of supervised release. He was released from prison in March 2018 and was on supervised release at the time of his arrest for his conduct in this case.
Judge Hall sentenced Estremera to 120 months of imprisonment for trafficking fentanyl, and a consecutive 18 months of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release.
The DEA’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic Police Departments. Agencies assisting the investigation include the DEA New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) Strike Force and the New York Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.