A 47-year-old Hartford man known on the street as “Poochie” has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after investigators say they caught him walking into a Pearl Street apartment with a backpack hiding $52,000 in cash, meant to seal a multi-kilogram cocaine deal. Ismael Roman's sentence closes out a case that stretches back to a February drug sting and reaches all the way back to a federal conviction from four years earlier that he was still serving out on supervised release when he was arrested again.
A Pearl Street Meeting Goes Bad
According to the New Britain Herald, Roman was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment followed by four years of supervised release for a cocaine trafficking offense and for violating the terms of supervised release tied to that earlier federal case. The paper reports the Drug Enforcement Administration's Hartford Task Force had spent January and February investigating a cocaine trafficking operation, according to court documents and statements made in court. That investigation centered on Jose Colon, also known as “Uncle Benny,” who court documents and courtroom statements say attempted to purchase several kilograms of cocaine and had a large amount of cash on hand to complete the buy.
Investigators arranged a meeting with Colon at his Pearl Street residence in Hartford on February 19, and the Herald reports that agents watched Roman and an associate walk into Colon's apartment before that meeting, with Roman carrying a backpack. Colon, Roman, and the associate were then arrested following a court-authorized search of the residence. That search turned up roughly $52,000 in cash hidden inside a small cooler tucked inside Roman's backpack, per the same account.
A Prior Conviction He Was Still Serving Out
Roman had been detained since his arrest in the case and pleaded guilty on June 1 to attempting to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, the Herald reports. The offense was among the charges for which Roman received his 60-month sentence, according to the Herald.
What makes Roman's case more complicated is that he was already on federal supervised release when he was arrested in February. He had been sentenced in Hartford federal court in October 2022 to 41 months of imprisonment for a separate cocaine trafficking offense, the Herald's reporting notes, and was still serving out the supervision tied to that case when agents caught him at Colon's apartment. The case involved both the new cocaine charge and his violation of the earlier supervised-release terms.
A Prior Federal Case
Roman's earlier federal case resulted in a 41-month sentence in October 2022 for a separate cocaine trafficking offense.
Co-Defendant Awaits Sentencing in November
Colon, the 61-year-old whose Pearl Street apartment was the center of the February sting, has also pleaded guilty to charges in the case and now awaits sentencing. He pleaded guilty on August 10 to attempting to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and is scheduled to be sentenced in New Haven federal court on November 12, per the Justice Department. Colon's own record includes a prior October 2015 federal conviction for heroin trafficking that sent him to prison for 24 months, and he was on Connecticut state probation for second-degree sexual assault at the time federal task force officers raided his apartment this year.
The DEA's Hartford Task Force investigated Roman and Colon. The task force includes DEA Hartford Resident Office personnel and Connecticut State Police, along with officers from the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Windsor Locks police departments.
Part of a Broader Enforcement Push
Roman's sentencing came six days after Hoodline reported that a 28-year-old New Britain man received an identical 60-month federal sentence after task force officers seized 770 grams of cocaine from a commercial storage unit on West Main Street. Both cases involved federal cocaine trafficking charges.
