In the summer of 2012, Oscar "Tato" Valentin was looking for someone to beat up a man who had interfered with a drug-dealing enterprise Valentin was running out of garage bays on Walker Street in New London known as the "green garages," according to federal and state prosecutors.   

For a mere $200, his associate, Nestor "Ernie" Pagan, found two men who "picked up the hit," according to court documents.

On Sept. 12, 2012, Jose Rosado Jr., 23, also known as "Gugie," and Andrew "Papo" Aviles, 28, armed with a baseball bat and pocket knife, jumped Javier Reyes outside his 187 Huntington St. apartment.

Aviles, who said Reyes pulled out a kitchen knife during the ensuing tussle, used his pocket knife to stab Reyes several times in the abdomen. Reyes died a short time later.

Valentin and Pagan, indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2014, are on trial in U.S. District Court in Hartford on conspiracy, assault and drug distribution charges.

Jury selection is underway before Judge Vanessa L. Bryant, and opening arguments are scheduled for April 8.

Aviles and Rosado have pleaded guilty and await sentencing in federal court.

Reyes' death was the result of an ongoing power struggle between Valentin, who operated out of an 11-bay garage at the intersection of Bristol and Walker streets, and men who sought to dethrone Valentin as a major drug distributor in the region, according to court documents.

After Reyes was killed, Valentin told others in intercepted phone conversations that the homicide "would send a message that people could not interfere with his business and that he hoped the people of New London understood that," according to a court transcript.

At his change-of-plea hearing in January 2015, Aviles told the judge he met Pagan through a friend and that Pagan told him that he and "Gugie" had to beat somebody up, according to a court transcript.

"He didn't really elaborate on who the person was or the situation on hand," Aviles said.

That night, he and Rosado waited outside the Huntington Street apartment until they saw Reyes, Aviles said.

Rosado approached Reyes and struck him with the baseball bat. When Reyes pulled a kitchen knife, Rosado stumbled and fell over a stoop, hitting his head on a windowsill, Aviles said.

Aviles said he stabbed Reyes, who was trying to stab him, and Reyes fell to the ground. 

A woman in a nearby apartment opened a window and began screaming, and a man came out of the building and picked up Reyes' knife.

Aviles and Rosado fled to a vehicle carrying Pagan and two other men and driven by a female friend. Aviles said he threw his knife out the window on an exit ramp.

Investigators recovered surveillance video footage that showed Aviles and Rosado, carrying a bat, creeping toward Reyes and then running away from him about 15 seconds later, according to the government.

Investigators also collected blood from the crime scene that they said contained Rosado's DNA.

Rosado's aunt stitched his head wound, according to Aviles' plea hearing testimony, and Aviles threw their bloody clothing in a dumpster behind a Laurel Drive apartment building in New London.

The trial of Valentin and Pagan is expected to last 10 to 12 days.

Federal prosecutors Sarah P. Karwan and Anthony E. Kaplan and New London Senior Assistant State's Attorney Paul J. Narducci are expected to elicit testimony from law enforcement officials, expert witnesses and witnesses to the homicide.

Valentin is represented by Westport attorney Elliot R. Warren and will be assisted by a Spanish interpreter. Pagan is represented by attorneys Brian E. Spears and Nathan J. Buchok of Southport.

The prosecutors are expected to begin their case with evidence of the "green garages" enterprise before turning to the Reyes homicide, according to a trial memorandum.

In the summer of 2011, Valentin was the intended victim of a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by former members of his enterprise in an attempt to take over the green garages.

Reyes was the brother-in-law of Antonio "Wilson" Pena, one of the three men who pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder Valentin.

According to court documents, Pena planned to pay $5,000 to Gerardo Carrillo and $10,000 to Elmer A. Melendez for the job.

Tipped off by an informant, the police pulled over the informant, Carrillo and Melendez after the informant and Carrillo had picked up Melendez at his apartment.

In April 2013, following a 15-month investigation by federal, state and local authorities, Valentin was one of more than 100 people arrested in a massive drug sweep that the government said dismantled overlapping operations that supplied much of the heroin and cocaine flowing into southeastern Connecticut from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and New York City.

Valentin also purchased large quantities of drugs in Springfield, Mass., according to authorities.

The government said Valentin purchased "wholesale" quantities of 50 to 100 grams of powder cocaine and sold it in redistribution quantities, such as ounces, and street-level quantities, such as grams.

He also sold marijuana and heroin out of the garage, according to the government.

According to court documents, investigators arranged for a confidential informant to make a series of controlled purchases from Valentin, used wiretaps to intercept incriminating conversations and installed pole cameras to conduct video surveillance at the garage.

A review of the video images from the pole cameras showed that Valentin went to the garage almost daily and could be seen "delegating orders to associates by pointing and using hand gestures and directing his associates to perform certain tasks, including moving and cleaning items," according to prosecutors.

There was a constant flow of cars and pedestrians from the buildings.

k.florin@theday.com