Israel Mendoza, Trafficking Heroin and Cocaine, Connecticut 2024

Grimy Times, Bridgeport – In a major blow to the narcotics trade, Israel Mendoza, 45, formerly of Reading, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking heroin and cocaine into Connecticut.

Mendoza, also known as “D-Nice” and “Israel Mandosa,” was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport for his role in a large-scale narcotics trafficking operation that used the U.S. Mail to ship parcels of drugs and drug proceeds.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2018, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force began investigating the Hartford area narcotics trafficking operation. Investigators determined that Mendoza supplied Michael Copeland, of Bloomfield, with large quantities of cocaine, and that Copeland, at Mendoza’s direction, mailed parcels containing cash to individuals in California.

In September and October, U.S. Postal Inspectors in California intercepted and seized two parcels, each containing approximately $13,000 in cash, that Copeland mailed in Connecticut to addresses in the Fresno area. Investigators analyzed postal records and identified dozens of additional parcels connected to this drug trafficking network that are suspected to have contained narcotics or drug proceeds.

In February 2019, investigators seized a parcel containing nearly 500 grams of cocaine that had been mailed from California to a Bloomfield residence that was connected to Copeland. Mendoza worked with others, including Neliobet DeJesus and Danny Rhodes, in the Hartford area to distribute heroin and cocaine.

Mendoza was a fugitive until his arrest on August 14, 2023, in California. On October 1, 2024, Mendoza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, heroin and cocaine. He has been detained since his arrest. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone.

Mendoza’s sentencing is the latest development in a case that has seen several co-defendants plead guilty and receive prison sentences. On December 8, 2021, Rhodes was sentenced to 87 months of imprisonment; on December 16, 2021, Copeland was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment; and on March 7, 2022, DeJesus was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force, including members from the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden, and Town of Groton Police Departments, investigated the case. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Connecticut State Police, and Hartford Police Department assisted the investigation.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Drug Trafficking

Terry Hammond, Cocaine Trafficking, DE, 2023

Jun 15, 2023

Drug Trafficking

Timothy Schleede, Fentanyl Distribution, New York 2020

Oct 21, 2021

Drug Trafficking

Leon Henderson, Fentanyl Supplying, Washington 2023

Jan 5, 2009

Drug Trafficking

Avery Jones-Neal, Cocaine Distribution, Florida 2023

Jun 6, 2024