New London 'Speed Shop' Owner Gets 3 Years for Selling 'Speed'

The sentencing of Frankie Rivera of New London to three years in prison for selling cocaine (sometimes called "speed"), is the subject of this news release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut:

[...] Frankie Rivera, 32, of New London, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for distributing cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in early 2012, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the U.S. Secret Service and the New London Police Department initiated an investigation to combat the large-scale trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into and around southeastern Connecticut. 

The investigation revealed that certain members of the conspiracy were obtaining kilogram-quantities of cocaine in Puerto Rico and then mailing the drug to locations in and around New London where is was sold to distributors and customers. 

Rivera used his business “PR Speed Shop,” an auto-repair service on Westwood Avenue in New London, to sell cocaine to customers. Rivera has been detained since his arrest on April 3, 2013. 

On Nov. 15, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. More than 100 individuals have been charged with federal and state offenses as a result of this investigation.

This matter is being investigated by

• Homeland Security Investigations;
• U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service;
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine;
• Connecticut State Police;
• New London Police Department,
• Norwich Police Department,
• Waterford Police Department,
• Groton Town Police Department,
• East Lyme Police Department and Putnam Police Department. 
• The United States Marshals Service;
• ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations;
• Drug Enforcement Administration;
• HSI Assistant Attaché, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic;
• HSI Arecibo, Puerto Rico Resident Office; 
• Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation;
• Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services; and
• the Groton City, Willimantic, New Haven and Bristol Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alina P. Reynolds, Sarah P. Karwan and Henry K. Kopel. The state cases are being prosecuted by the State’s Attorney for the New London Judicial District and Senior Assistant State’s Attorneys Paul Narducci and Stephen Carney.