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CT Drug Kingpin Sentenced To Prison

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Waterbury’s “Papa John” Sentenced For Leading Drug Trafficking Organization

Friday, August 22, 2025, 11:15 A.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

HARTFORD, CT.- A 36-year-old leader of a Waterbury, Connecticut drug trafficking organization will be spending a little over years in federal prison, after being sentenced for distributing large quantities of illicit narcotics throughout the streets of Waterbury, Connecticut.

     According to U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, Angel Quiros, also known as “Papa John,” 36, of Waterbury, Connecticut, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Shea to 63 months in federal prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release, for his guilty plea to heading a drug trafficking organization.

     Quiros previously appeared on February 11, 2025, in Federal Court in Hartford, Connecticut, and pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute and to Possess with Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of a Controlled Substance, Cocaine. Quiros, who has remained free on a $100,000 bond, was ordered by Judge Shea to surrender himself on October 20, 2025, to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

According To Court Documents

     According to court documents and statements made in the U.S. District Court, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Waterbury Safe Streets Gang Task Force, and Connecticut state and local law enforcement Investigators launched an investigation into two drug trafficking organizations that operated within the City of Waterbury, Connecticut.

     One of the organizations, headed by Quiros, conducted its operations in the area of Williams Street, while the other, headed by Daniel Diaz-Rivera, operated in the area of Maple Avenue. The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps on multiple phones, video surveillance, GPS tracking of vehicles, and numerous controlled buys of illicit narcotics, uncovered that the two organizations distributed cocaine, crack cocaine, and fentanyl through a network of street-level dealers. 

     The organizations also shared sources of supply and worked in conjunction with each other to further their operation, and sold narcotics at all hours of the day and night.

     Quiros, Diaz-Rivera, and fifteen associates were charged with federal narcotics violations as a result of the investigation. On November 29, 2023, Quiros, Diaz-Rivera, and several others were taken into custody. In association with the arrests, Investigators executed multiple court-authorized search warrants at locations in Waterbury, Connecticut.

     During the searches, Investigators located and seized around 700 grams of crack cocaine, more than 900 vials of crack cocaine, 200 grams of powder fentanyl, and more than 1,600 single-dose bags of fentanyl/heroin, two stolen firearms, numerous rounds of ammunition, and more than $39,000 in U.S. currency. Additionally, Investigators seized from Quiros quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine, more than $6,000 in cash, and jewelry valued at more than $24,000.

     Diaz-Rivera pleaded guilty to the same charge and, on June 23, 2025, was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison.

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Art Fletcher
Art Fletcher
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