News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2008

Waterbury Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to
More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison

JAN 23 -- June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New England and Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ELUID RIVERA, also known as “Smokey,” 45, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Mark R. Kravitz in New Haven to 135 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. On March 29, 2007, RIVERA pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

On October 4, 2006, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging RIVERA and several other individuals with various narcotics offenses involving the distribution of cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin in central Connecticut. During the course of a 10-month investigation, law enforcement officers utilized a court-authorized wiretap to intercept RIVERA negotiating the sale of large quantities of cocaine. The investigation revealed that RIVERA provided 100-gram, half-kilogram and whole-kilogram quantities of cocaine to a customer base of 20 to 25 individuals in the Waterbury and Meriden areas. Many of the individuals then sold the cocaine in smaller quantities on the street.

This investigation was a collaborative effort of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Waterbury Police Department and the Meriden Police Department.