United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, has announced that ELI SAMUEL O’FARRILL-FERNANDEZ, also known as “Maple,” 48, of New Britain, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 120 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release for trafficking cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2024, the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and New Britain Police Department investigated a drug trafficking organization, headed by Wilfredo Ortiz, that was operating out of Supreme Automotive, a car dealership located on Main Street in New Britain.  The investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, physical and electronic surveillance, and several controlled purchases of narcotics, primarily cocaine, from Ortiz and other members of the conspiracy. Investigators identified O’Farrill-Fernandez as a supplier of cocaine to Ortiz.  On September 24, 2024, O’Farrill-Fernandez supplied Ortiz with approximately two kilograms of cocaine, and on October 12, 2024, he delivered four kilograms of cocaine to Ortiz at Supreme Automotive.

O’Farrill-Fernandez, Ortiz, and other members of this drug trafficking organization were arrested on November 14, 2024.  In association with the arrests, investigators conducted court authorized searches of Supreme Automotive and residences and other locations connected to the organization and seized more than five kilograms of cocaine, more than 200 grams of fentanyl, approximately 30 grams of heroin, a kilogram press, seven firearms, ammunition, approximately $75,000 in cash, and 26 vehicles.  A search of O’Farrill-Fernandez’s residence on Maple Street revealed numerous items used to process and package narcotics, including multiple metal press plates used for pressing narcotics into kilogram size bricks.
O’Farrill has been detained since his arrest.  On November 17, 2025, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Wilfredo Ortiz pleaded guilty to the same charge and, on March 9, 2026, was sentenced to 135 months of imprisonment. This investigation has been conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Police, and the New Britain, Hartford, West Hartford, Waterbury, Naugatuck, East Hartford, Brookfield, Milford, Norwich, Orange, North Haven, Meriden, Berlin, and Manchester Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Natasha Freismuth, Reed Durham, and David Nelson.