Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison
NEWINGTON, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that on November 10, 2022, ANGEL LUIS RODRIGUEZ, also known as “Lou Rock,” 45, last residing in Newington, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervise release, for trafficking cocaine. Judge Bryant also ordered Rodriguez to pay a $3,000 fine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force first identified Rodriguez’s connection to drug trafficking in January 2018 when a DEA undercover agent posing as a money broker picked up $118,070 in heroin trafficking proceeds from an individual who was subsequently identified as Rodriguez. In April 2018, the undercover agent picked up $130,950 in drug trafficking proceeds from Rodriguez’s associate, Ismael Roman, also known as “Poochie” and “Pete.” On May 1, 2019, after investigators observed Rodriguez and Roman meet at an associate’s apartment in Enfield, they stopped Roman’s car and seized $27,000 in suspected narcotics proceeds. That same day, investigators searched the associate’s apartment and seized more than $1.1 million in cash.
During the investigation, investigators learned that Rodriguez and Roman conspired to traffic cocaine, and that Rodriguez used tractor trailer drivers to transport narcotics to Connecticut. On December 1, 2020, Rodriguez arranged with a tractor trailer driver to pick up approximately 15 kilograms of cocaine in the Chicago area, transport the cocaine back to Connecticut, and then return to Chicago with payment for the cocaine. On December 3, 2020, the individual picked up 15 brick-shaped packages of cocaine, weighing a total of approximately 14.5 kilograms, at a truck stop in the Chicago area. Rodriguez and Roman were arrested the next day.
Rodriguez has been detained since his arrest on December 4, 2020. On July 15, 2022, he pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, cocaine.
Roman, 43, of Hartford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and, on October 13, 2022, was sentenced to 41 months of imprisonment.
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. The investigation was assisted by the DEA Chicago Field Division and the Newington Police Department.
This case was 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.
