Five men convicted of operating west new york, n.J., heroin mill sentenced to prison terms
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
April 18, 2012 |
NEWARK, N.J. – Five men who pleaded guilty to charges of operating a heroin manufacturing and distribution mill out of a West New York, N.J., home have been sentenced to prison, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Sandy Antonio, 35, a/k/a “Alejandro Valdez,” of West New York, who pleaded guilty Dec. 7, 2011, before U.S. District Judge William Martini in Newark federal court, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Also sentenced today was Antonio’s brother, David Antonio, 30, a/k/a “Victor Arias,” of the Bronx, N.Y., who pleaded guilty Dec. 1, 2011. He was sentenced to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
On April 12, 2012, Judge Martini sentenced three other men involved in the scheme: Christian Colon, 24, a/k/a “Joan Manuel Pina Dominguez,” of Lawrence, Mass., was sentenced to 19 months in prison; Jose Delorbe, 27, a/k/a “Antonio Aquino,” of the Bronx, was sentenced to 46 months in prison; and Jorge Guerra Ventura, 32, of New York, was sentenced to 33 months in prison. All three pleaded guilty Dec. 1, 2011, and all three also were sentenced to three years of supervised release.
According to documents filed in the five cases and statements made in court:
Sandy Antonio coordinated the co-conspirators and others in the packaging of heroin on multiple occasions between Sept. 15, 2010 and Jan. 22, 2011. Heroin packaged by the co-conspirators was seized by law enforcement from a commercial bus in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, Pa., in September 2010. On the evening of Jan. 22, 2011, the five defendants were packaging heroin in a residence located in West New York, when law enforcement received information about the operation. Officers and detectives from the West New York Police Department responded and found substances they believed to be drugs and drug manufacturing and packaging materials.
After arresting the five defendants, police executed a search warrant and seized more than two kilograms of heroin, marijuana plants, and large quantities of material and equipment associated with manufacturing and packaging drugs for retail distribution. All five defendants are citizens of the Dominican Republic, without legal status in the United States. Each is subject to deportation upon completion of any prison term imposed.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell; ICE-HSI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees; and the West New York Police Department and Hudson County Prosecutors Office with the investigation that led to the sentences.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randall Cook and Brian Urbano of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
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Defense counsel:
Sandy Antonio: Patrick Brackley Esq., New York
David Antonio: Scott Finckenauer Esq., Fairview, N.J.
Antonio Aquino: Anthony Iacullo Esq., Nutley, N.J.
Joan Manuel Pina Dominguez: Genesis Peduto Esq. North Bergen, N.J.
Jorge Guerra Ventura: Kathleen Theurer Esq., Jersey City, N.J.
