Informant Admits Stealing Government Funds

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, announced that FERNANDO TORIBIO, also known as "Fernando Toribio-Balbuena," 32, of Waterbury, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to theft of government funds.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2019, Toribio agreed to become a cooperating source with the Drug Enforcement Administration in an effort to avoid prosecution for narcotics offenses. Under the terms of an agreement Toribio entered with the DEA, any unauthorized criminal activity by him would constitute a breach of the agreement, exposing him to criminal prosecution.

In November 2022, Toribio told DEA special agents and task force officers in Connecticut about a female from the Dominican Republic who was living in Massachusetts. According to Toribio, the female had left a sample of fentanyl pills for him in a mailbox in Waterbury. Investigators retrieved approximately 10 pills from the mailbox, and testing confirmed they contained fentanyl. The DEA and Toribio subsequently coordinated the following transactions with the female:

• On December 2, 2022, the female provided 1,000 fentanyl pills and a sample of powder fentanyl at a meeting in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and was paid $5,000 in government funds provided by the DEA.
• On December 16, 2022, the female provided 1,000 fentanyl pills at a meeting in Manchester, Connecticut, and was paid $5,000 in government funds provided by the DEA.
• In January 2023, the female provided approximately one pound of crystal methamphetamine and was paid $5,000 in government funds provided by the DEA.
• On January 26, 2023, at a meeting in Norwalk, Connecticut, the female provided approximately 10 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 3,000 fentanyl pills, and was expecting to receive a payment of $65,000. However, DEA special agents seized the drugs and did not make the agreed-upon payment.

In pleading guilty, Toribio admitted that he had arranged with the female to receive a cut of the government funds paid by the DEA for the drugs. After the December 2, 2022, transaction, the female and Toribio met in Boston where she paid him $1,200. After the December 16, 2022, transaction, the female met Toribio in Revere, Massachusetts, and paid him $1,800. After the first January 2023 transaction, the female paid Toribio $1,200 at location in Massachusetts. The female also sent funds over CashApp to an account controlled by Toribio's wife.

In addition, Toribio and the female had agreed that he would receive $18,000 of the $65,000 anticipated payment for the January 26, 2023, transaction.

Toribio was arrested on a criminal complaint on January 8, 2026.

Theft of government funds carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. Judge Dooley scheduled sentencing for September 23.

Toribio is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.

This investigation has been conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen L. Peck.