Troy Man Pleads Guilty in Capital Region Cocaine Conspiracy

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jan Lopez-Colon, age 28, of Troy, New York, pled guilty today to a conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine in the Capital Region, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

Lopez-Colon admitted that between June 2021 and December 2021, in Albany and Rensselaer Counties, he and three others conspired to ship more than 5 kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to the Capital Region.  The cocaine was shipped via U.S. mail in 1-kilogram bricks, and transported to a stash house maintained by a co-conspirator on Fifth Avenue in Troy, where the cocaine was processed for distribution.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 26, 2023 in front of Senior United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe.  Lopez-Colon faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10 million, and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life.   Lopez-Colon also agreed to forfeit numerous items of jewelry seized from his residence, and agreed to abandon a Glock model 43 pistol.

The following three men were also charged for their roles in the conspiracy:

• Ilvin Batista-Figueroa, age 31, of Albany;
• Jesus Baez, age 32, of Loudonville, New York; and
• Sam Calderon, age 20, of Troy.

Baez and Calderon have previously pled guilty. The charges against Batista-Figueroa are pending, they are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the USPIS and its Capital Region Task Force, led by the USPIS and including the Albany Police Department, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, and the Schenectady Police Department, as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin S. Clark.