Rhode Island Man Sentenced To 10 Years’ Imprisonment For Transporting Six Kilograms Of Heroin

SCRANTON—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that Angel Prado, age 46, of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced yesterday to serve 10 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani for transporting six kilograms of heroin from Chicago to Pennsylvania.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Prado previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin. Six kilograms of heroin is equivalent to approximately 240,000 retail bags of heroin. The heroin were seized from a vehicle Prado was driving on Interstate 80 in Monroe County by members of the Pennsylvania State Police on December 19, 2013.

Judge Mariani also ordered Prado to be placed on five years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Prado also faces possible deportation to the Dominican Republic.  

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francis P. Sempa and Phillip Caraballo prosecuted the case.   

This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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