A 35-year-old Bridgeport man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a cocaine trafficking ring that shipped kilogram quantities of drugs from Puerto Rico through the U.S. Mail. Victor Francisco Bonilla was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release once his prison term ends, according to federal officials.
Bonilla was sentenced in New Haven federal court, as reported by CTPost. He pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, admitting he received kilogram quantities of the drug by mail from a source in Puerto Rico and supplied cocaine both to the wider organization and to his own customers. Between August and October 2024, he purchased distribution quantities of cocaine from an organization leader and sold it to his own customers, according to the outlet's reporting.
A Southern Connecticut Operation With Ties to Puerto Rico
Bonilla was part of a narcotics trafficking organization operating in southern Connecticut, U.S. Attorney David Sullivan said, per the same account. Members of the organization traveled to Puerto Rico to acquire cocaine and mail it to addresses across Connecticut, and also traveled to the Bronx to acquire fentanyl and deliver narcotics proceeds, Sullivan said.
The investigation led to the seizure of packages containing a total of 16 kilograms of cocaine, with investigators identifying additional packages they believed likely contained narcotics as well, according to Sullivan. Bonilla was arrested on September 10, 2025, and the broader case has resulted in 15 people being arrested in connection with the trafficking ring, the station's report notes.
Part of a Recurring Pattern in Connecticut Courts
Cocaine shipped by mail from Puerto Rico has become a familiar fact pattern in Connecticut federal court. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut has announced that the FBI Task Force and U.S. Postal Inspection Service seized several packages containing at least 16 kilograms of cocaine during the investigation and identified several more that likely contained narcotics. In April, federal prosecutors charged five more individuals in a separate case involving cocaine mailed from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Similar prosecutions have surfaced for years. A 2019 case out of Waterbury involved a defendant who received kilogram quantities of cocaine mailed from a Puerto Rico supplier, as detailed by federal prosecutors in their announcement of the Waterbury sentencing. That defendant also received a 10-year prison term.
How Bonilla's Sentence Compares to Other Cases
Bonilla's 10-year sentence lines up with several recent Connecticut cocaine-mail cases. Jean Mangual-Castro of West Haven received 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking cocaine through the mail, federal prosecutors said in announcing the West Haven sentencing. Roman Santiago Jr., formerly of Danbury, received the same 120-month term plus 10 years of supervised release last month, according to a separate announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Other defendants in comparable cases received shorter terms. Bimael Acevedo-Roman of Meriden was sentenced to 84 months followed by four years of supervised release, prosecutors said in their announcement of the Meriden case. A former Bristol resident received 72 months followed by four years of supervised release in a 2021 case, while a New London man who received cocaine mailed from Puerto Rico was sentenced to just 24 months with three years of supervised release, according to federal records.
