Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Trafficking Charge

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 FELIX JIMENEZ, 38, a citizen of the Dominican Republic unlawfully residing in the U.S., pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to a cocaine trafficking offense. According to court documents and statements made in court, members of the DEA New Haven District Office (NHDO) Task Force coordinated a purchase of cocaine with an individual in New York. On April 9, 2026, Jiminez drove to the meeting location in Waterbury and provided approximately one kilogram of cocaine to an undercover officer. After the transaction, task force officers converged on the location. Jimenez drove his car into several law enforcement vehicles and fled at a high rate of speed. He was found a short distance away hiding in a closet in an autobody shop in Waterbury and was taken into custody. Jimenez has been detained since his arrest. While incarcerated, he was overheard on a phone call with his girlfriend discussing the possession of firearms at a residence they shared in Ansonia. Law enforcement subsequently conducted a court-authorized search of the residence and seized two handguns. Jimenez pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23. Jimenez was deported to the Dominican Republic in 2019 after he was convicted of a prior federal offense. The NHDO Task Force 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. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Lembo. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.