New York Man Sentenced for Heroin and Cocaine Conspiracy

U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announces the sentencing yesterday of LUIS J. COTTO, age 31, a resident of New York, for charges stemming from a heroin and cocaine trafficking conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon.  Judge Lemmon sentenced COTTO to a total of (78) months in prison followed by (2) years of supervised release.

According to court documents, beginning in 2015 through 2016, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted an investigation that revealed the existence of a drug trafficking ring operating in St. Rose and LaPlace, Louisiana.  Agents learned that COTTO was a source of narcotics for members of this conspiracy, driving narcotics into Louisiana from Texas, where he had owned a residence as well.

Court documents also outline that, on August 7, 2016, COTTO was stopped for a traffic violation while headed southwest on Interstate 44 near Vinita, Oklahoma, by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.  Based on COTTO’S suspicious conduct, the trooper called a trained drug canine to conduct an open-air sniff of COTTO’S vehicle.  The canine alerted to the presence of contraband in the car.  State troopers searched the vehicle and found approximately $225,000.00 in U.S. currency wrapped in plastic in one of the door panels.

COTTO is one of the last defendants to be sentenced in this case.  Four defendants, who were convicted after trial, Andre Staggers, Corey Session, Gregory London, Jr., and Leonard Morrison, will be sentenced by Judge Lemmon on November 8, 2018.

U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the conviction as the result of a coordinated effort of federal and state law enforcement authorities within the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program.  The DEA’s HIDTA Group #11, operating out of the New Orleans Field Division, includes members of the Louisiana State Police, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and other local agencies.  U.S. Attorney Strasser extended his thanks to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for their assistance in this investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew R. Payne, Brittany L. Reed, and David Howard Sinkman are in charge of the prosecution.  Also assisting in the prosecution is Special Assistant United States Attorney Andre Gaudin, who is assigned from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office to the DEA HIDTA Group.