Connecticut Man Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Indiana Dateline: South Bend, Indiana Date: 21 June 2023 Subjects: American Government , Crime Topic: Interstate Highway System

SOUTH BEND – Ismael Ortiz-Vargas, 37 years old, of Bristol, Connecticut, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr. after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Ortiz-Vargas was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by 4 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, in November 2022, the car Ortiz-Vargas was driving was stopped on the Indiana Toll Road and police discovered that he was transporting a kilogram of cocaine from Connecticut to Wisconsin to sell in Milwaukee. At the time of the stop, an arrest warrant had been issued for a violation of his federal supervised release based on his previous federal conviction for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

This case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of the Indiana State Police as part of a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Molly E. Donnelly.

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Updated June 21, 2023