Pennsylvania Resident Charged with Fentanyl Trafficking Offenses

 Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, announced that a federal grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment today charging REGINO MORILLO-ESPINAL, 38, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, with possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

As alleged in court documents, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force identified Morillo-Espinal as a trafficker of wholesale quantities of fentanyl.  On March 26, 2021, investigators stopped Morillo-Espinal’s vehicle on I-91 South after he had traveled from Allentown to multiple locations in Hartford.  A search of the vehicle revealed approximately two kilograms of suspected fentanyl.

The charge of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

Morillo-Espinal has been detained since March 26, 2021.

Acting U.S. Attorney Boyle stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The DEA’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic Police Departments.  The Connecticut State Police has assisted the investigation.

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.