Torrington Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Federal Prison for Role in Cocaine Trafficking Ring

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BRIAN MARTINEZ RIVERA, 29, of Torrington, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 60 months of imprisonment and four years of supervised release for his role in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force identified Joseph Giovanni Soto as the leader of a cocaine trafficking operation that involved the shipment of parcels containing kilogram quantities of cocaine from U.S. Post Offices in Puerto Rico to various "drop addresses" in New Britain and Meriden, Connecticut, as well as addresses in Holyoke and West Springfield, Massachusetts. The organization used "runners" to pick up the parcels from the drop addresses and deliver them to Soto's residence in Bloomfield and the residence of Soto's uncle, Ramon Soto, in New Britain. Typically, Ramon Soto, at Joseph Soto's direction, then delivered the cocaine to individuals in the Bronx, New York, and elsewhere, in return for payment.

During the investigation, task force members intercepted and seized 10 suspicious parcels, each of which contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine, and identified approximately 280 suspicious parcels likely containing kilogram quantities of cocaine that had been delivered to the various drop addresses.

Joseph Giovanni Soto was arrested on May 1, 2023. In August 2023, investigators saw a reemergence of suspicious parcels coming from Puerto Rico to the New Britain and Meriden areas, and then to a Waterbury address where Jatniel Morales Gonzalez was living. Investigators determined that Morales Gonzalez and Soto had worked together prior to Soto's arrest, and that Morales Gonzalez had assumed control of the Connecticut side of the cocaine trafficking network after Soto's arrest. Investigators identified several new drop addresses for suspicious parcels and observed Morales Gonzalez, Martinez Rivera, and others retrieving the parcels and bringing them to Morales Gonzalez's residence before they were ultimately delivered to the Bronx. During this part of the investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service identified more than 90 additional suspicious parcels, 11 of which had been shipped to Martinez Rivera's residence in Torrington. Court-authorized searches of four seized parcels found that they each contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine.

Martinez Rivera was arrested on December 19, 2024. On August 21, 2025, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. He has been detained since October 2, 2025, when his bond was revoked.

Joseph Giovanni Soto, Ramon Soto, and Morales Gonzales pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms of 14 years, 10 years, and 10 years, respectively.

This matter has been investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force, which includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service - Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut State Police, the Hartford Police Department, and the Plainville Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Levick and Konstantin Lantsman.