Friday, September 03, 2021

Citizen of the Dominican Republic Sentenced to 70 Months for Drug Trafficking and Immigration Offenses

 Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSE PAULINO, 46, a citizen of the Dominican Republic last residing in the Bronx, New York, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 70 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for narcotics trafficking and immigration offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Paulino supplied large quantities of cocaine and counterfeit oxycodone pills to Musa Hill, of New Haven, who also received heroin from a source in New Haven.  Hill converted some of the cocaine he received into crack cocaine, sold narcotics to customers, and also provided narcotics to an associate for distribution to a network of customers.  During the investigation, investigators made controlled purchases of crack, heroin and hundreds of counterfeit oxycodone pills from Hill.  The vast majority of the counterfeit pills contained fentanyl.

Paulino has been deported to the Dominican Republic, and subsequently illegally reentered the U.S., on three occasions.

Paulino has been detained since his arrest on June 25, 2019.  On November 20, 2020, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances, and one count of illegal reentry of a removed alien.

Hill pleaded guilty to related charges and, on March 4, 2020, was sentenced to 72 months of imprisonment.

This case was investigated by the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer R. Laraia.

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