Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Joseph Giovanni Soto, 34, of West Hartford, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 168 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking cocaine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force identified a cocaine trafficking operation that involved the shipment of parcels containing kilogram quantities of cocaine from U.S. Post Offices in Puerto Rico to various “drop addresses” in New Britain and Meriden, Connecticut, as well as addresses in Holyoke and West Springfield, Massachusetts.
The organisation used “runners” to pick up the parcels from the drop addresses and deliver them to Soto’s residence in Bloomfield and the residence of Soto’s uncle, Ramon Soto, in New Britain.
Typically, Ramon Soto, at Joseph Soto’s direction, then delivered the cocaine to individuals in the Bronx, New York, and elsewhere, in return for payment.
During the investigation, task force members intercepted and seized 10 suspicious parcels, each of which contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine, and identified approximately 280 suspicious parcels likely containing kilogram quantities of cocaine that had been delivered to the various drop addresses.
Joseph Soto was arrested on May 1, 2023.
On that date, investigators conducted a court-authorised search of his residence and seized two loaded firearms, a drum magazine, ammunition, body armour, approximately two kilograms of cocaine, drug packaging material, and approximately $12,000 in cash.
One of the seized firearms was fitted with a switch making it fully automatic, and investigators also found a second, uninstalled switch.
A search of Ramon Soto’s residence on that date revealed a loaded Ruger handgun, firearm magazines, ammunition, two money counters, a digital scale with cocaine residue, and more than $1,000 in cash.
On February 7, 2025, Joseph Soto pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Released on a $100,000 bond, he is required to report to prison on June 25.
Ramon Soto pleaded guilty to a related charge and, on January 8, 2025, was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.
