United States of America v. Fernando Toribio, aka “Fernando Toribio-Balbuena”

New Haven, Connecticut, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with comspiracy to posses with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846.

Reported by Kent Morlan

FERNANDO TORIBIO, also known as “Fernando Toribio-Balbuena,” 32, of Waterbury, 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.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty.

Theft of government funds carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.