Former East Hartford Resident Sentenced to More Than 13 Years in Prison for Trafficking Fentanyl, Violating Supervised Release

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that EDUARDO AGUILAR-LINARES, 34, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 158 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking fentanyl, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on May 1, 2017, Aguilar-Linares was sentenced in the Eastern District of New York to 29 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for a fentanyl trafficking offense.  He was released from federal prison in June 2018 and, while residing in East Hartford, his supervision was subsequently transferred to the District of Connecticut.  At some point, Aguilar-Linares absconded from supervision and fled to Mexico.

In July 2019, the DEA’s Hartford Task Force began investigating a Mexican-based drug trafficking organization that was distributing fentanyl and heroin in Connecticut.  The investigation determined that Aguilar-Linares, while living in Mexico, was trafficking kilogram-quantities of narcotics, primarily fentanyl, to associates in Connecticut who then distributed the drugs to street-level distributors.  His associates used several locations to store, process and package fentanyl, including office space on Pratt Street in Hartford, an apartment in the Asylum Hill neighborhood in Hartford, and an apartment in New Britain.

Members of the organization delivered cash generated from the sale of narcotics to a money broker in Brooklyn, New York, who assisted in laundering the narcotics proceeds before they were transferred to Aguilar-Linares and others.  Between August and October 2019, investigators seized more than $200,000 in cash from members of the drug trafficking organization.

On June 3, 2020, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Aguilar-Linares and nine others with narcotics distribution and money laundering offenses.  Aguilar-Linares remained a fugitive until December 20, 2023, when he was arrested in Texas.

Aguilar-Linares has been detained since his arrest.  On February 18, 2025, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

Judge Hall sentenced Aguilar-Linares to 137 months of imprisonment for the fentanyl trafficking offense, and a consecutive 21 months of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

The DEA’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, Middletown, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Windsor Locks Police Departments.  The DEA New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Strike Force and the New York Police Department assisted the investigation.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.