Jonathan Garcia, a 37-year-old resident of Long Beach, California, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for trafficking narcotics into Connecticut. U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill handed down the sentence in Bridgeport, and Garcia will also serve four years of supervised release.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, an investigation began in 2022 when the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force looked into a large-scale drug trafficking operation distributing fentanyl and cocaine in Connecticut. Investigators used wiretaps, surveillance, controlled purchases, and other methods to determine that narcotics were being supplied from California through Mexico.
In February 2023, authorities intercepted two parcels sent from West Hartford to southern California. One package contained approximately $6,500 in cash and two new Apple iPhones; the other had about $38,300 in cash.
The investigation revealed that members of the Loose Cannonz motorcycle club based in East Hartford received shipments of fentanyl and cocaine for local distribution.
Law enforcement determined that Garcia coordinated with another individual to ship kilogram quantities of drugs from Mexico to Connecticut. He sometimes traveled to Connecticut to oversee transactions and collect proceeds.
Garcia was arrested on October 24, 2023. He pleaded guilty on August 11, 2025, to conspiracy charges involving at least 500 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Garcia has a previous federal conviction for cocaine trafficking from a case prosecuted in the Central District of California in 2017.
He is currently out on bond but must report to prison by April 22.
The DEA’s Hartford Task Force led the investigation with support from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The task force includes personnel from multiple local police departments as well as state police agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reed Durham and Robert Dearington are prosecuting the case.
"This investigation has been conducted by the DEA’s Hartford Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service," according to David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
