Hartford-Area Drug Dealer Sent To Federal Prison: Feds

EAST HARTFORD/NEW HAVEN, CT — A former East Hartford resident was sent to prison Wednesday for dealing fentanyl in Hartford and violating conditions of his release from custody.

David X. Sullivan, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said Thursday that Eduardo Aguilar-Linares, 34, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Haven to more than 13 years of prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking fentanyl and violating the conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on May 1, 2017, Aguilar-Linares was sentenced in the Eastern District of New York to 29 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for fentanyl trafficking.

Sullivan said he was released from federal prison in June 2018 and, while residing in East Hartford, his supervision was subsequently transferred to Connecticut.

At some point, Aguilar-Linares absconded from supervision and fled to Mexico, officials said.

In July 2019, the DEA’s Hartford Task Force began investigating a Mexican-based drug trafficking organization that was distributing fentanyl and heroin in Connecticut.

Sullivan said the investigation determined Aguilar-Linares, while living in Mexico, was trafficking kilogram quantities of narcotics, primarily fentanyl, to associates in Connecticut who then distributed the drugs to street-level distributors.

His associates used several locations to store, process, and package fentanyl, including office space on Pratt Street in Hartford, an apartment in the Asylum Hill neighborhood in Hartford, and an apartment in New Britain.

On June 3, 2020, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Aguilar-Linares and nine others with narcotics distribution and money laundering.

Aguilar-Linares remained a fugitive until Dec. 20, 2023, when he was arrested in Texas.

Aguilar-Linares has been detained since his arrest.

On Feb. 18, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

For more information on the case, click on this link.