HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Luis Manuel Quesada Rodriguez, age 32, Alex Rivera Ramos, age 30, and Pedro Diaz, age 27, all from York, Pennsylvania, were each sentenced by United States District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson to 120 months’ imprisonment for trafficking cocaine.
According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, between December 2015 and March 2020, the defendants coordinated and received parcels containing kilogram quantities of cocaine sent from Puerto Rico through the U.S. Mail, and then distributed the cocaine in and around York. Each of the three defendants, along with a fourth co-defendant, Carlos Joel Nieves Ortega, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute between 5 and 15 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride. As part of the investigation, the government disrupted the organization’s cocaine shipments and seized 7.5 kilograms of cocaine along with $16,895 in drug proceeds.
Co-defendant Carlos Joel Nieves Ortega, age 37, of York, was previously sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment for his involvement in the cocaine trafficking conspiracy, and co-defendant Jose Colon Declet, age 36, of York, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel S. Dalke and Daryl F. Bloom prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
This case is also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
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