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JATNIEL MORALES GONZALEZ, 28, Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Cocaine Trafficking in Connecticut
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – JATNIEL MORALES GONZALEZ, 28, of Ponce, Puerto Rico, was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release for trafficking cocaine in Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force identified Joseph Giovanni Soto as the leader of a cocaine trafficking operation that involved the shipment of parcels containing kilogram quantities of cocaine from U.S. Post Offices in Puerto Rico to various ‘drop addresses’ in New Britain and Meriden, Connecticut, as well as addresses in Holyoke and West Springfield, Massachusetts.
The organization used ‘runners’ to pick up the parcels from the drop addresses and deliver them to Soto’s residence in Bloomfield and the residence of Soto’s uncle, Ramon Soto, in New Britain. Typically, Ramon Soto, at Joseph Soto’s direction, then delivered the cocaine to individuals in the Bronx, New York, and elsewhere, in return for payment.
During the investigation, task force members intercepted and seized 10 suspicious parcels, each of which contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine, and identified approximately 280 suspicious parcels likely containing kilogram quantities of cocaine that had been delivered to the various drop addresses.
Joseph Giovanni Soto was arrested on May 1, 2023. In August 2023, investigators saw a reemergence of suspicious parcels coming from Puerto Rico to the New Britain and Meriden areas, and then to a Waterbury address where Morales Gonzalez was living. Investigators determined that Morales Gonzalez and Soto had worked together prior to Soto’s arrest, and that Morales Gonzalez had assumed control of the Connecticut side of the cocaine trafficking network after Soto’s arrest.
Morales Gonzalez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine on September 2, 2025. He is required to report to prison on January 21.
The matter has been investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force, which includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, and the Hartford, Plainville, and Meriden Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Levick and Konstantin Lantsman.
Morales Gonzalez’s real full name is JATNIEL MORALES GONZALEZ, and he was sentenced in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on January 21, 2026. He was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The exact date of the crime is not specified in the source. However, the investigation led to the seizure of 10 suspicious parcels containing approximately two kilograms of cocaine each, and the identification of approximately 280 suspicious parcels likely containing kilogram quantities of cocaine.
Key Facts
- State: Connecticut
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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