Hartford Man Sentenced For Oxycodone Distribution & Gun Possession

Friday, August 22, 2025, 2:15 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

HARTFORD, CT.- A 36-year-old Hartford, Connecticut, man will be spending the next three years in federal prison, after being sentenced on Wednesday, for illegally distributing prescription pills and being unlawfully in possession of a firearm.

     According to U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, Angel Benitez, 38, of Hartford, Connecticut, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Vernon D. Oliver to 36 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for his prviously entered guilty plea to federal drug and firearms charges.

According To Court Documents

     According to the charging documents filed with the District Court, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad investigation uncovered that Benitez and a co-conspirator were illegally selling oxycodone pills that were prescribed to his co-conspirator. During August and September 2024, Federal Investigators made multiple controlled purchases of oxycodone pills from Benitez and his co-conspirator.

During A Search Of Benitez’s Residence Police Find Stolen Gun

     On November 6, 2024, following the controlled purchases, Benitez was taken into custody. On that date, Investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant at Benitez’s Hartford residence. During the search, Investigators located and seized a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun that had been reported stolen in West Hartford, Connecticut. 

     Benitez, who has been detained since his November 6, 2024, arrest, appeared on March 26, 2025, in Federal Court in Hartford, Connecticut, and pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute and Possession with Intent to Distribute Oxycodone; and Being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm.

     Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction for a domestic violence crime from owning or possessing a firearm and ammunition. Benitez knew when he possessed the stolen handgun on November 6, 2024, due to prior felony convictions, including state assault, burglary, and larceny charges.