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Press Release

Man Who Sold Deadly Fentanyl Sentenced to 5 Years in Federal Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut

Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTOPHER DUBICKI, 37, formerly of Sprague, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for distributing fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and the Norwich Police Department launched an investigation after several fatal and non-fatal overdoses occurred in a short period of time in eastern Connecticut.  Investigators determined that, beginning at least as early as January 2017 and continuing to July 2018, Michael Nieves worked with Juan Reyes to supply heroin and fentanyl to other distributors, including individuals who regularly traveled from eastern Connecticut to Hartford to purchase the drugs.  Those individuals then sold the drug to customers in the Norwich and New London areas.

On July 5, 2017, Norwich Police officers responded to a residence on the report of an overdose.  The victim, a 34-year-old male, was transported to the hospital where he died.  The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner subsequently determined the victim’s cause of death to be “acute fentanyl intoxication.”  The investigation revealed that Dubicki sold the fentanyl to the victim after previously purchasing it from Nieves and Reyes.

As the investigation continued, investigators made multiple controlled purchases of fentanyl from Dubicki.  On February 7, 2018, a court authorized search of Dubicki’s residence revealed approximately 650 glassine bags of fentanyl.

Dubicki has been detained since his arrest on May 7, 2018.  On August 12, 2019, he pleaded guilty to fentanyl, heroin and cocaine distribution charges.

Investigators connected six other overdoses, three fatal and three non-fatal, to drugs that were supplied by Nieves and Reyes.  They both pleaded guilty to federal charges.

On June 9, 2021, Reyes was sentenced to 151 months in prison and, on February 24, 2022, Nieves was sentenced to 168 months in prison.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and the Norwich Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Stolfi Collins with the assistance of the State’s Attorney for the New London Judicial District.

Updated April 12, 2022

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Opioids