Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment today charging Gerardo Nunez-Irizarry, also known as “Indio,” 43, of Meriden, with possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

If convicted of the charge, Nunez-Irizarry faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the DEA’s New Haven Task Force, which includes personnel from the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and the New Haven, East Haven, West Haven, Meriden, Waterbury, Branford, Ansonia, and Middletown Police Departments as well as from the Connecticut State Police.  The investigation has been supported by the Meriden Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s 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 Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden and Town of Groton Police Departments.