CT man gets 30 months in prison after raid turns up cocaine, firearms and cash

A New Britain man has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for trafficking cocaine.

Nerick Diaz-Quesada, 25, was handed down a 30-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release during a hearing Tuesday in federal court in Hartford, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

According to federal officials, members of the DEA Hartford Task Force and the New Britain Police Department carried out a search warrant on Nov. 10, 2022, at an apartment on LaSalle Street in New Britain where investigators suspected narcotics were being stored, processed and packaged for distribution.

Officials said Diaz-Quesada was apprehended after he attempted to flee when authorities entered the apartment.

A search of a bedroom Diaz-Quesada used turned up more than two kilograms of cocaine, a loaded Glock 9mm handgun, narcotics packaging materials and a large amount of cash, according to federal officials.

Diaz-Quesada — who has been detained since his arrest — pleaded guilty in January 2023 to possession with intent to distribute cocaine.