Waterbury Man Sentenced to More Than 5 Years in Prison for Trafficking Cocaine

Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that LUIS CASTRO, 34, of Waterbury, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 68 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for trafficking cocaine.

On August 27, 2021, a jury found Castro guilty of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.  According to the evidence and testimony at trial, in September 2018, a DEA Task Force investigation revealed that Castro was attempting to purchase two kilograms of cocaine.  On September 10, 2018, task force officers conducted surveillance on individuals who were suspected of being the source of the cocaine as they traveled by car to Castro’s residence on Delaware Avenue in Waterbury.  Investigators later stopped the car and recovered $67,000 in cash.  A search of Castro’s residence that evening revealed more than 500 grams of a mixture containing cocaine, a kilogram press, items used to process narcotics for redistribution, and $8,292 in cash.

This is Castro’s second federal conviction.  In March 2011, he was sentenced in the Southern District of New York to 18 months of imprisonment for trafficking cocaine, crack and firearms.

Castro, who had been released on bond, was remanded to custody at the conclusion of the court proceeding to begin serving his sentence.

This matter has been investigated by the DEA Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale and Tara Levens.