Robert Amatruda, a 41-year-old from Waterbury, has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release for cocaine trafficking. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford, as announced by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
The conviction stems from an investigation led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the Waterbury Police Department into drug trafficking activities in Waterbury and surrounding areas. The investigation employed wiretaps, physical surveillance, controlled narcotics purchases, and motor vehicle stops leading to drug and cash seizures. Jose Duprey, known as "Red" or "Colorado," was identified as a major trafficker of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl during this probe.
Duprey used his workplace to supply drugs to other distributors and stored narcotics at his girlfriend's business in Middlebury. Wiretaps captured numerous conversations between Amatruda and Duprey arranging drug transactions. Amatruda not only purchased cocaine from Duprey for distribution but also supplied him with cocaine on occasions.
Amatruda was arrested along with Duprey and 12 others on May 25, 2022. A search conducted that day at Duprey’s residence in Waterbury and another location revealed large quantities of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and over $107,000 in cash.
On July 31, 2023, Amatruda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Meanwhile, Duprey had pleaded guilty to related charges earlier and received a sentence of 141 months on March 26, 2024.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including DEA offices across Connecticut, New York, New Jersey; the FBI; ATF; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Connecticut State Police; among others.
U.S. Attorney Sullivan acknowledged the cooperation from the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office in this case prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan J. Keefe and Nathaniel J. Gentile under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.
More details about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
