New London — Three people from Norwich, New London and Ledyard face federal heroin charges in two separate investigations, part of a statewide initiative targeting narcotics dealers who supply products that cause death or serious injury.

Rudy Hernandez, 43, of New London and Timothy Paprocki, 33, of Ledyard were charged as part of an investigation into the heroin-related death of a 25-year-old man on April 12 in New London County.

Jonathan Fisher, age unavailable, was charged after police investigated the April 9 overdose death of an 18-year-old man in Norwich.

DEA Special Agent Dana R. Mofenson of the DEA New Haven District Office signed an affidavit on the investigation, which began when Groton Town Police responded to the April 12 incident. 

The victim was transported to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival, according to the affidavit.

Police spoke with an individual present at the scene — Paprocki — and in the victim's pants found a baggie containing white powder that tested positive for heroin and/or fentanyl.

Mofenson then interviewed Paprocki with Groton Town Police the next day, and noted that Paprocki's statements could not be verified and that he "minimized the medical distress that (the victim) suffered and may not have been truthful in other respects."

Paprocki — who alleged he was familiar with the victim — said he bought $200 of heroin the same day for himself, as well as some for a party and the victim, according to the affidavit.

Paprocki said he picked up the victim, who injected half of a $40 bag of heroin.

Once the victim became incapacitated, Paprocki said he thought about leaving the victim on a couch on the side of the road. He said he moved the victim to the back seat of his vehicle and drove to a friend's home before returning to his own, the document stated.

He then allegedly spoke with his girlfriend about obtaining medical assistance for the victim, and soon after called emergency services and told his girlfriend to dispose of the heroin.

Mofenson alleges that Paprocki bought the heroin from Hernandez, according to text message conversations obtained by the DEA.

New London Police searched Hernandez's 264 Colman St. residence on April 14 and said they found suspected heroin and cocaine, as well as multiple cellphones.

The second investigation centered on the death of an 18-year-old man in a Norwich residence.

A member of the Norwich Police Department responded to a call for a possible overdose at the Summer Street residence of Fisher, according to an affidavit by Jonah Mazzacane, a DEA special agent from the New Haven district office.

The 18-year-old victim was deceased and had a baggie with a red ladybug stamp in his wallet containing a substance that, according to the affidavit, tested positive for heroin and fentanyl in a field test.

Fisher previously had been arrested on narcotics charges March 8 and Feb. 10, the affidavit states, but was not home at the time of the overdose.

Police were informed that Fisher may have been selling drugs out of a hotel room with an acquaintance, Joseph Hirschfield, who faces related charges in the incident.

Officers from the Norwich Police Department were sent to a Comfort Inn, where, according to the affidavit, they located him in the lobby and found two baggies of suspected heroin with a ladybug stamp.

Searching the room, officers found 307 baggies containing suspected heroin, hundreds of empty baggies with ladybug stamps, more than 393 Xanax tablets, approximately 1.1 pounds of suspected marijuana, a plastic jug containing 39.5 grams of suspected marijuana and 7 oxycodone tablets, according to the criminal complaint.

Fischer was arrested and charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was being held on a $100,000 bond.

The charges were announced by Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England.

The Drug Enforcement Administration's New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad, the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, the Regional Community Enhancement Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Norwich, Groton Town and New London police departments all participated.

n.lynch@theday.com