United States Drug Enforcement Administration

HARTFORD, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that LUIS IVAN DIAZ, 25, of Hartford, pleaded guilty yesterday in Hartford federal court before to a narcotics distribution offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the Connecticut State Police obtained an arrest warrant for Diaz after his DNA was found on a gun that was thrown from a vehicle during a State Police pursuit on March 8, 2022.  The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force had also identified Diaz as a fentanyl trafficker.  Diaz was located and arrested on November 3, 2022.  At the time of his arrest, Diaz possessed approximately 35 grams of fentanyl, 23 grams of cocaine, and five grams of crack cocaine.

Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill on March 15 in Bridgeport.

Diaz has been detained since his arrest.

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, and Windsor Locks Police Departments.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis and Kenneth L. Gresham.