Maryland Man Sentenced for Drug Trafficking in Eastern Panhandle

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Juan Manuel De La Rosa-Tejeda, also known as “Little Papi,” age 39, of Hagerstown, Maryland, was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison for cocaine distribution.

According to court documents and statements made in court, De La Rosa-Tejeda was one of the leaders of the drug trafficking conspiracy, selling large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in Berkeley County and using a business in Hagerstown, Top 3 Sources Appliances, as a central hub for the drug sales. De La Rosa-Tejeda’s home was searched, and officers found $121,670. A search of Top 3 Sources yielded nearly nine kilograms of cocaine and more than one kilogram of heroin.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

The FBI; the U.S. Marshals Service; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the West Virginia Air National Guard; the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative (agencies included are the West Virginia State Police, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Ranson Police Department, Charles Town Police Department, and Martinsburg City Police Department); West Virginia State Police; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Hagerstown Police Department; the National Resources Police Department; FBI-New York Safe Streets Task Force; the New York Police Department; the New Jersey State Police; the Washington County (Maryland) Drug Task Force; the Maryland State Police; the  U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland;  and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania investigated.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.