Waterbury Man Sentenced For Cocaine Trafficking

Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 8:45 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

HARTFORD, CT.- A 41-year-old Waterbury, Connecticut, man will be spending the next two years in federal prison, after being sentenced last Friday, for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that was responsible for distributing kilogram quantities of cocaine in the Waterbury, Connecticut, area.

     According to U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, on Friday, June 27, 2025, Robert Amatruda, also known as “Bubba” and “Spanky,” 41, of Waterbury, Connecticut, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Alvin W. Thompson to 24 months in federal prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release for his previously entered guilty plea to a federal narcotics trafficking conspiracy charge.

     On July 31, 2023, Amatruda appeared in Federal Court in Hartford, Connecticut, and pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Cocaine.

According To Court Documents

     According to court documents and statements made in the District Court, this matter stems from a Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force and Waterbury Police Department-led investigation into drug trafficking in and around the city of Waterbury, Connecticut.  

     The investigation, which included court-authorized federal wiretaps on multiple phones, physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, and motor vehicle stops that resulted in the seizure of drugs and cash proceeds, revealed that Jose Duprey, also known as “Red” and “Colorado,” trafficked kilogram-quantities of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.  Duprey used his place of employment to supply narcotics to other drug distributors, and he used his girlfriend’s business, located on Straits Turnpike in the Town of Middlebury, Connecticut, to store narcotics and other items.

Amatruda Pick Up On Federal Wiretap

     During the federal wiretap, Amatruda was intercepted numerous times speaking with Duprey to arrange narcotics transactions.  Amatruda purchased cocaine from Duprey to distribute to others, and sometimes provided Duprey with cocaine.

     Amatruda, Duprey, and twelve other individuals identified during this investigation were arrested on May 25, 2022.  On that date, a court-authorized search of Duprey’s Waterbury home and his Middlebury, Connecticut, stash house uncovered approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of heroin, two kilograms of fentanyl, and more than $107,000 in cash.

     Duprey, also of Waterbury, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to related charges and, on March 26, 2024, was sentenced to 141 months in federal prison for this offense and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal narcotics trafficking conviction.