A man accused of operating a drug factory in Connecticut and allegedly using drones to smuggle drugs and other banned items into a federal corrections facility in New York has been sentenced to nine years in prison for selling a synthetic drug commonly marketed as a bath salts.
Harrison Elba, 35, of Glastonbury faced sentencing in federal court in Bridgeport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. His prison sentence will be followed by seven years of supervised release and he will have to pay a $5,000 fine, U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill ordered.
Federal officials said Elba was previously sentenced by Underhill to five years of probation during a hearing in October 2019 for his role in a large-scale drug trafficking organization. In June 2023, Underhill granted Elba’s request for early termination, which claimed his “rehabilitation was complete,” officials said.
In 2023, investigators found that Elba was using the John Fitch Distilling Company, a business he operated in South Windsor, to distribute dimethylpentylone, which is commonly marketed as “bath salts,” authorities said. In May 2023, authorities found about 10 kilograms of the drug in the distillery and seized it, officials said.
Elba was later arrested in September 2023 and held until October 2024, when he was released on bond, officials said.
On Jan. 10, 2025, Elba pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and admitted to other allegations, according to officials.
Between April and June 2023, Elba allegedly admitted that he operated a drug manufacturing facility in Bloomfield where he and others manufactured and distributed psilocybin mushrooms and THC products, along with large quantities of bagged marijuana intended for distribution, authorities said.
Around March 2021, Elba allegedly said he arranged to buy 200 pounds of marijuana from two people in Vermont, according to officials. He and others met the individuals at a hotel room where they robbed them, authorities said.
Officials said Elba also admitted that he received and distributed 10 kilograms of cocaine in November 2022 and, at some point in 2023, that he picked up about six guns belonging to an associate and delivered them to someone who could store them.
Authorities said Elba also admitted that he arranged for a book to be mailed to an inmate at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island in December 2024, knowing that some pages were laced with synthetic cannabinoids.
Authorities suspect that, while Elba was free on bond, he allegedly helped smuggle drugs, cell phones and other banned items into a federal correctional institution in Ray Brook, New York, using drones.
The same day he pleaded guilty last January, Elba allegedly contacted an inmate at the facility, officials said.
“I literally just got out of my guilty plea,” he allegedly said, according to officials. “I pled guilty. My guidelines were 97 to 121. My judge is like the best judge in Connecticut. He sentenced me five years ago…. I thought I might go back to jail today….”
According to authorities, Elba and the inmate also discussed the drone smuggling scheme.
Elba has been held in state custody since April 2025 on charges related to the Bloomfield drug factory, officials said.
The drone smuggling scheme remains under investigation by federal authorities.