Bridgeport Man Pleads Guilty to Heroin Distribution and Firearm Possession Charges

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ISMAEL MANGUAL, 43, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to heroin distribution and firearm possession offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 31, 2017, Milford Police stopped a vehicle Mangual was driving.  Mangual did not have a driver’s license, the car was not registered or insured, and there was a six-year-old boy in the back seat without a car seat or seatbelt.  A subsequent search of the car revealed a loaded Glock 27 .40 caliber handgun, a Glock 30 .45 handgun that had been reported stolen, approximately 140 grams of heroin and a digital scale.  The loaded firearm was found in the rear footwell of the car, close to where the child had been sitting.  Mangual was arrested on state charges on that date.

Mangual pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and one count of possession a firearm in furtherance of a narcotics trafficking offense.  Judge Arterton scheduled sentencing for June 20, 2019, at which time Mangual faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.

Mangual’s criminal history includes state convictions for robbery and narcotics offenses.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, which includes personnel from the DEA, Connecticut State Police and Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Milford, Bridgeport and Trumbull Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.