A Connecticut man who authorities say has been connected to several fatal drug overdoses in the state has been sentenced to more than 23 years in federal prison.
Willie Franco, 37, of New Haven, faced sentencing on Wednesday in federal court in New Haven where U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden handed down a 280-month prison term followed by 10 years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
The sentencing came after a jury found him guilty last winter of narcotics and firearm charges, federal officials said.
According to authorities, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force and the DEA began investigating “resumed narcotics trafficking activity” they believe Franco and his then girlfriend, Daniella Fox, were involved with in 2021. At that time, Franco had already served prison time for a federal narcotics conviction connected to a fatal overdose.
As early as February 2021, investigators found that parcels coming from Arizona and California, which “likely contained narcotics,” had been mailed to addresses associated with Franco and Fox, federal officials said. Investigators also allegedly were able to connect Franco’s drug trafficking to two overdose deaths in August 2021 in Branford and Guilford and another fatal overdose in September 2021 in Milford, according to officials.
In March 2022, investigators intercepted a package mailed to an address in East Haven associated with Franco and Fox. They obtained a search warrant for the parcel and found about one kilogram of cocaine and a kilogram of fentanyl inside, officials said.
Authorities said they later made a “controlled delivery” of the package to the address where it had been sent, where they found Franco and Fox waiting in a car that was parked on the street. They were both arrested after officials said Fox retrieved the package.
Investigators later searched the pair’s residence and reportedly found more than a kilogram of fentanyl, an unspecified quantity of crack cocaine, digital scales, narcotics packaging paraphernalia, a loaded Glock .40 pistol with an obliterated serial number, a drum extended magazine for a rifle, a bulletproof vest, ammunition and more than $300,000, according to officials.
Authorities also analyzed cell phones that they seized and reported finding “hundreds of videos” showing Franco’s drug trafficking activity and him in possession of firearms. In some videos, which investigators believe were meant for his drug suppliers, Franco could be seen complaining that the fentanyl is not strong enough and that he “needs fentanyl strong enough to kill people,” according to federal officials.
Franco has been in custody since his arrest. Last February, a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, officials said.
He was previously sentenced in Hartford federal court in August 2016 to 80 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release, according to authorities. Officials said he distributed crack cocaine and heroin in that case.
That investigation also found that, in January 2015, Franco distributed heroin to someone in East Haven who died after ingesting the drug, officials said. He was released from federal prison in December 2020.
According to officials, Franco’s most recent conviction was a violation of his supervised release.
