Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced DWAYNE THOMPSON, 37, of West Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 156 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for heroin trafficking offenses.
According to the evidence presented during a bench trial in Hartford, in July 2017, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force received information that Thompson’s associate, Jose Carrasquillo, was interested in acquiring heroin to distribute. Carrasquillo, working with Thompson, subsequently agreed to purchase three kilograms of heroin, for $42,000 per kilogram, from an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a heroin supplier. On August 22, 2017, Thompson and Carrasquillo, arriving in separate vehicles, met in South Windsor with an individual working with law enforcement to complete the transaction. Thompson was arrested after he was found in possession of a firearm and $126,200 in cash. Carrasquillo, who fled from the scene at a high rate of speed, surrendered to law enforcement two days later.
On June 16, 2022, Judge Thompson found Thompson guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and one count of attempt to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. Thompson has been detained since that date.
On March 1, 2022, Carrasquillo, of Wethersfield, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. He awaits sentencing.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’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. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Leaming and Robert S. Ruff.