FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC at 410-209-4885
JANUARY 27, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PASADENA MAN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN LARGE SCALE HARFORD AND ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY DRUG CONSPIRACY
BALTIMORE, Maryland - United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein announces that today U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Antone Miranda-Ruffin, age 30, of Pasadena, Maryland to10 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine.
According to the statement of facts presented at his November 7, 2005 guilty plea, in March 2003, the Harford County Narcotics Task Force, (HCNTF), the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland State Police, the Bel Air Police Department, the Aberdeen Police Department, the Havre de Grace Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) intercepted telephone calls of members of a conspiracy suspected of trafficking of cocaine and marijuana in Harford County, Maryland. Investigators identified Lan Dang as the source of supply of the drugs. Throughout March 2005, Dang transported kilogram quantities of both cocaine and marijuana to members of the conspiracy in Harford County, as well as Anne Arundel County.
During the evening of March 26, 2005, law enforcement officers followed Lan Dang and observed Ruffin walk to Dang’s vehicle in the parking lot of a Linthicum, Maryland, hotel. Dang and Ruffin opened the trunk of the vehicle and were approached and arrested by law enforcement officers. Several pounds of marijuana and approximately 2 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride were found in the trunk and Ruffin was holding a plastic bag containing a large amount of money.
All of the co-defendants pled guilty on November 7, 2005. Lan Dang, age 45, of Houston, Texas was sentenced on January 27, 2006 to 12 years in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release; George Brown, age 39, of Darlington, Maryland is scheduled for sentencing on March 1, 2006; and Jeffrey Price, age 40, and Joanne Price, age 34, both of Churchville, Maryland are scheduled to be sentenced on March 6 and March 10, 2006, respectively.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Harford County Narcotics Task Force, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland State Police, the Bel Air Police Department, the Aberdeen Police Department, the Havre de Grace Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration for the investigation in this case. Mr. Rosenstein also praised Assistant United States Attorney Christopher J. Romano for prosecuting the case.
This page last modified—February 1, 2006