Former Manchester Man Sentenced For Role In Cocaine Deal

          CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today that Luis D. Capo-Nieves, 33, formerly of Manchester, New Hampshire, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

          According to court documents and statements made during court proceedings, on July 1, 2016, the Nashua Police department dispatched several officers to the parking lot of a city apartment complex in response to a citizen complaint about drug dealing activity there. In the parking lot, the responding police officers observed Capo-Nieves engage in an exchange with another individual, Wilfredo Tanon Rodriguez, that appeared to be part of a drug transaction. After Capo-Nieves and Tanon Rodriguez left the parking lot in Capo-Nieves’s car, police stopped the car for a variety of motor vehicle violations. A police inspection of a bag the police saw in the car during the traffic stop revealed 279 grams of cocaine.

          Capo-Nieves, who pleaded guilty on February 28, 2017, will be on supervised release for three years after he serves his prison sentence. In addition, the Court directed that $2121 recovered from Capo-Nieves at the time of his arrest should be used to pay for his court-appointed defense attorney, instead of being returned to Capo-Nieves.

          On June 2, 2017, Tanon Rodriguez, a former Nashua resident, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his participation in the drug transaction.

          “Even as we continue to address the opioid epidemic, the law enforcement community remains committed to stopping the distribution of all illegal drugs,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “Thanks to good police work, over a quarter kilogram of cocaine has been removed from the streets of Nashua.”

          This matter was investigated by the Nashua Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Morse prosecuted the case.

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