Drug Courier Sentenced to 57 Months in Federal Prison

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSE MARTIN CHAVEZ-VALENCIA, 37, of Bergenfield, New Jersey, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport, to 57 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, The Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force arranged to purchase three kilograms of a mixture of heroin and fentanyl from Chavez-Valencia's associates. On September 26, 2022, Chavez-Valencia drove to a parking lot in West Haven to complete the transaction. Chavez-Valencia was taken into custody, and a search of his vehicle revealed approximately three kilograms of heroin. Investigators subsequently located and seized nearly two kilograms of heroin that Chavez-Valencia also had possessed.

Chavez-Valencia has been detained since his arrest. On March 4, 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.

This investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force, which includes members from the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Waterbury, East Haven, Branford, West Haven, Ansonia, Meriden, Naugatuck, and Shelton Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan J. Keefe and Nathaniel J. Gentile.