U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery | U.S. Department of Justice
Vanessa Roberts Avery, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Yoanni Suarez, also known as "Cuba," has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport and includes four years of supervised release following imprisonment. Suarez, aged 48 and a former resident of Springfield, Massachusetts, was convicted for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine while on supervised release from a previous federal conviction.
Court documents reveal that Suarez had previously been sentenced in April 2016 to 78 months in prison with four years of supervised release for heroin trafficking. He was released from federal custody in April 2021.
In July 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Hartford Task Force initiated an investigation into a large-scale drug trafficking organization distributing significant quantities of fentanyl and cocaine across Connecticut. This investigation involved wiretaps, surveillance, controlled narcotics purchases, and other techniques. It was discovered that the organization's leader received drugs from California via Mexico and used Suarez's son, Giovanny Jorrin, to send proceeds back to suppliers. In February 2023, authorities intercepted two parcels mailed by Jorrin containing cash totaling approximately $44,800.
Further investigations revealed Suarez's involvement with a known narcotics supplier while he was on supervised release. He facilitated shipments of fentanyl and cocaine to Connecticut and coordinated drug sales in Hartford while assisting in sending drug proceeds back to suppliers.
Suarez has been detained since his arrest on June 7, 2023. He pleaded guilty on June 13, 2023, to conspiracy charges related to distributing over 40 grams of fentanyl.
Jorrin also pleaded guilty to related charges and received a sentence of 24 months imprisonment on June 7, 2024.
The investigation is being conducted by the DEA’s Hartford Task Force alongside the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The task force comprises personnel from various local police departments including those from Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford among others. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Dearington and A. Reed Durham are prosecuting the case under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program which aims at dismantling major criminal organizations through collaborative law enforcement efforts.
More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
