A Connecticut drug dealer got prison. He has to give up a Rolex and $200,000 in jewelry too.
A Connecticut man who trafficked cocaine through the mail was sentenced this week to 10 years in prison, according to federal authorities.
Jean Mangual-Castro, also known as “Mangui,” 35, of West Haven, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford Federal Court to five years of supervised release, according to federal authorities.
Authorities, citing court documents and statements made in court, said an investigation headed by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force and U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force found that Mangual-Castro “was orchestrating shipments of cocaine through the U.S. Mail from Puerto Rico.”
Investigators identified a suspicious package that was delivered to the West Haven residence of Mangual-Castro’s mother in December 2021 and in a court-authorized search of the residence, seized about two kilos of cocaine, a Rolex watch, more than $200,000 in jewelry, and about $2,900 in cash, authorities said.
“Investigators identified numerous other suspicious parcels that had been shipped from Puerto Rico to addresses connected to Mangual-Castro in Connecticut,” authorities said in a statement.
Nagala ordered that Mangual-Castro forfeit his interest in the watch, jewelry and cash that were seized.
Mangual-Castro, who has been held his arrest in December 2021, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine in 2022. His mother pleaded guilty to a related charge and awaits sentencing, authorities said in the statement.
The FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force includes participants from the New Haven, Milford , East Haven, and West Haven police departments, Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Department of Correction. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden and Town of Groton police departments.