Hartford Drug Dealer Sentenced To More Than Five Years In Prison For Illegally Possessing Firearms

Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that OBED FRANCO, also known as “Obie,” 23, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 66 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for illegally possessing firearms.

According to court documents and statements made in court, FRANCO was a member of a drug trafficking organization that sold heroin in the Hartford area.  One of FRANCO’s heroin customers held a Connecticut pistol permit.  On five occasions between February 2011 and May 2011, FRANCO and others drove the drug customer to a federally-licensed firearms dealer in East Hartford and identified a total of eight guns for the customer to purchase.  FRANCO and his other co-conspirators, including Wilson Morillo, then provided the customer with money to complete the purchases.  After purchasing the firearms and leaving the store, FRANCO and his co-conspirators gave the drug customer heroin and cash in exchange for the firearms.

In May 2011, FRANCO also purchased a firearm from another heroin customer in exchange for cash and heroin.

FRANCO has been detained since his arrest on June 15, 2011, on unrelated state charges.  On June 26, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

On May 28, 2013, Morillo pleaded guilty to the same charge.  He awaits sentencing.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hartford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Freimann and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Natasha Dye.

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