News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
Peter F. Neronha
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island
September 7, 2012
Taunton Man Sentenced to 240 Months in Federal Prison on Drug Trafficking Charges
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Hector L. Rodriguez, 42, of Taunton, MA, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Providence to 240 months in federal prison for his receipt of 30 kilograms of cocaine at a warehouse in Pawtucket, R.I.
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi ordered Rodriguez to serve five years supervised release following his prison term. Rodriguez pleaded guilty on April 10, 2012, to an information charging him with possession with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine on September 20, 2011.
Rodriguez’s sentence was announced by Peter F. Neronha, United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Kevin L. Lane, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New England field division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to information presented to the court at the time of Rodriguez’s guilty plea, on the afternoon of September 20, 2011, special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) observed Rodriguez and another individual operate various vehicles including a tractor truck, Ford Explorer, and Jeep Cherokee in and out of a warehouse facility on Dunnell Lane in Pawtucket. The tractor truck was stopped the following day on I-95S in New Jersey. The truck was found to contain substantial quantities of cocaine and U.S. currency. Based on this discovery, agents obtained a search warrant for the warehouse. Agents located the Ford Explorer and seized thirty kilograms of cocaine from a hidden compartment in the vehicle. According to the DEA, the wholesale value of the cocaine is about half a million dollars.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind Shah.
United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin L. Lane also acknowledged the assistance of the Pawtucket Police Department in the investigation of this matter.
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Contact: 401-709-5357
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