A man from Pennsylvania known as “D-Nice” was sentenced to seven years in prison in Bridgeport on Thursday for trafficking heroin and cocaine into Connecticut.
According to a press release from the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Israel Mendoza, 45, formerly of Reading, Pa., will serve a prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release.
According to court documents and statements, the United States Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force launched an investigation in 2018 into a Hartford-area drug dealing operation that used the US Postal Service to ship parcels of drugs and drug proceeds from coast to coast.
Investigators discovered that Mendoza delivered huge amounts of cocaine to Bloomfield resident Michael Copeland. Copeland then dispatched shipments containing cash to California on Mendoza’s orders.
Prosecutors allege that in September and October 2018, US Postal Inspectors in California seized two parcels carrying approximately $13,000 in cash each. Copeland had sent them from Connecticut to Fresno addresses.
Investigators then examined postal records to find further parcels linked to the drug distribution network. Dozens of shipments were purportedly discovered and thought to contain drugs or money.
The following February, authorities claim they seized a parcel containing roughly 500 grams of cocaine delivered from California to a Bloomfield property linked to Copeland.
Mendoza, according to prosecutors, distributed heroin and cocaine throughout Hartford and the surrounding area with friends such as Neliobet DeJesus and Danny Rhodes. After DeJesus relocated to Florida, investigators discovered a parcel bound for an Orlando address that was related to him.
A court-authorized search of the parcel discovered approximately 500 grams of cocaine and five grams of fentanyl.
On October 31, 2019, a Hartford grand jury returned an indictment charging Mendoza, Copeland, DeJesus, and Rhodes with cocaine trafficking. Mendoza remained a fugitive from the law until his apprehension in California on August 14, 2023.
On October 1, 2024, Mendoza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine, as well as possession with intent to distribute. He has been jailed since he was arrested.
Prosecutors said Copeland, DeJesus, and Rhodes had previously pleaded guilty. Rhodes received a seven-year, three-month prison sentence on December 8, 2021. Copeland was sentenced to two years and six months in jail on December 16, 2021, while DeJesus was sentenced to two years and six months in prison on March 7, 2022.
The case was investigated by the US Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force, which included members of the US Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut Army National Guard, and the police departments of Hartford, New Britain, Meriden, and Groton.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Connecticut State Police, and the Hartford Police Department also assisted.
