Four Additional People Charged in Conspiracy to Distribute over Five Kilograms of Cocaine

NEWARK, N.J. – Four additional people have been charged for their respective roles in a conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.

Victoria Irizarry, 30, of Fort Lee, New Jersey; Marisol Vargas, 34, of Rowland Heights, California; Daniel Estrella, 28, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey; and Cohen Easton, 46, a/k/a “Power,” of Paterson, New Jersey, are charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute approximately five kilograms or more of suspected cocaine.

Vargas and Irizarry appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark federal court and were released on bail. Easton appeared Feb. 21, 2019, before Judge Mannion and was detained. Estrella remains at large. Previously, Derik Sanchez, 32, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, and James Ferrer, 34, of Belleville, New Jersey were charged in related federal conspiracy complaints.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In September and October 2018, Vargas, who allegedly maintained a narcotics stash house in California, brokered the shipment of boxes of cocaine to Sanchez, Irizarry, and others in New Jersey using the U.S. Postal Service. The cocaine, which was intercepted by law enforcement, was to be sold in New Jersey and New York by Sanchez and other members of the conspiracy, including Ferrer, Easton, and Estrella.

Each defendant faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, and a $10 million fine.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson, New Jersey Division, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Fontecchio of the Economic Crimes Unit and Senior Trial Counsel Jamie Hoxie of the OCDETF/Narcotics Unit in Newark.