Waterbury Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TYSON QUINONES, also known as “Ty,” 36, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in late 2019, the DEA New Haven Task Force began an investigation into the distribution of heroin and fentanyl in New Haven and Waterbury.  The investigation, which included thousands of intercepted communications over court-authorized wiretaps, revealed that Wilton Reynoso was receiving large quantities of fentanyl and heroin from a source in New York and then selling the narcotics to other drug distributors in Connecticut.  Reynoso supplied Quinones with heroin and fentanyl, which Quinones then sold to his own customers in Waterbury, and also distributed to other dealers, including Deeshawn Pittman in New Haven.  Pittman then worked with Quentine Davis to sell fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine to a large customer base in and around New Haven.

Quinones was also involved in a separate conspiracy that involved the shipments of kilogram-quantities of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, the conversion of cocaine to crack cocaine, and the sale of the drug to other distributors and customers.

On June 13, 2020, investigators sought to arrest Reynoso and Quinones after intercepting a series of calls indicating that they were planning to conduct a 200-gram heroin transaction.  On that date, Quinones was arrested at the anticipated meeting place.  Reynoso fled from the meeting scene in his vehicle, which was found abandoned nearby.  He was arrested a short time later after he returned to the vehicle.  A search of a location in Waterbury that Reynoso used to store narcotics revealed more than kilogram of a mixture of fentanyl and heroin, and items used to process and package narcotics.  Investigators also seized a loaded 9mm handgun from Quinones’s residence.

On July 23, 2021, Quinones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine.

Quinones, who is released on bond, is required to report to prison on January 23, 2023.

Reynoso, Pittman and Davis also pleaded guilty.  On September 13, 2021, Reynoso, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment.  On May 26, 2022, Davis was sentenced to 63 months of imprisonment.  On October 31, 2022, Pittman was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment.

This investigation was conducted by the DEA New Haven Task Force with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  The Task Force includes participants from the U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Meriden, Derby, Middletown, Naugatuck and Waterbury Police Departments.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Pierpont, Jr. and Elena L. Coronado through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.