United States Drug Enforcement Administration

(HARTFORD, Conn. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent-in-Charge of the DEA’s New England Division, and Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney today announced that Halby Lopez, also known as “Harv,” 41, of New Haven, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking cocaine. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, in the fall of 2015, the DEA New Haven Task Force initiated an investigation into a cocaine trafficking organization headed by Lopez. Omar Polanco-Mendez and Bernardo Roman-Rolan were the second and third in command, respectively.  The investigation revealed that Lopez, Polanco-Mendez and Roman-Rolan were obtaining bulk quantities of cocaine from multiple suppliers and redistributing the cocaine to a network of New Haven-area street-level dealers.  The investigation included court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of drugs and the seizure of multiple kilograms of cocaine.

Between January 2016 and March 2016, Lopez, with the assistance of Polanco-Mendez, arranged for the delivery of approximately seven kilograms of cocaine. Lopez used the La Familia Barber Shop located on Howard Avenue in New Haven, which he owned and operated, to distribute cocaine. On March 24, 2016, a grand jury in New Haven returned a 13-count indictment charging Lopez, Polanco-Mendez, Roman-Rolan and seven other individuals with various narcotics offenses. All of the defendants pled guilty. Lopez has been detained since his arrest on March 11, 2016. On September 14, 2016, he pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. Lopez’s criminal history includes convictions for drug trafficking, weapons possession and burglary.

On February 24, 2017, Polanco-Mendez was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment. On March 2, 2017, Roman-Rolan was sentenced to 68 months of imprisonment.

The DEA New Haven Task Force includes participants from the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Meriden and Derby Police Departments, and the U.S. Marshals Service.