Passaic County Man Indicted For Conspiracy To Distribute Heroin In Paterson, New Jersey, And Suburbs In New York, New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against an alleged member of a heroin distribution conspiracy that reached from the Bronx, New York, to Paterson and suburban communities in New York and New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Reinaldo Rodriguez, a/k/a “Money,” a/k/a “Mimo,” 29, of Paterson, is charged in a four-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin, possession with intent to distribute heroin and marijuana, felony possession a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He was arrested in May 2016 and has been in custody since that time.

Reinaldo Rodriguez was originally charged by complaint with Juan Pablo Goris-Castellano, 27, of the Bronx; Edwin Lopez, 32, of Elmwood Park, New Jersey; Carolina Almonte, 30, of the Bronx; Charlie Rodriguez, 34, of Paterson; Victor Alfonso Alvarez Martinez, 28, of the Bronx; Edward M. Stanel, 27, of Parsippany, New Jersey; and Joseph Trimarco, 30, of Stony Point, New York.

According to documents filed in this case:

From June 2015 through May 2016, the defendants participated in a drug trafficking organization that amassed wholesale quantities of heroin at multiple locations in and around the Bronx and used couriers to deliver large quantities of that heroin to mid-level drug dealers operating in and around Paterson. The heroin was either sold in the Paterson area or re-distributed to street-level drug dealers in suburban areas, including but not limited to, Morris County, New Jersey, and Rockland County, New York.

Goris-Castellano, who was based out of the Bronx, packaged and distributed large quantities of heroin to Lopez, who operated out of Paterson. Goris-Castellano worked with his associates, Almonte and Alvarez Martinez, who brought the heroin to Lopez and returned to Goris-Castellano with Lopez’s payment for the drugs. Lopez then sold portions of that heroin to Charlie Rodriguez, who, working closely with Reinaldo Rodriguez, resold portions of that heroin to street-level drug dealers in Paterson and suburban areas, including Stanel and Trimarco, who operated in Morris County and Rockland County, respectively.

At the time of his arrest, Reinaldo Rodriguez was in a bedroom in which distribution quantities of heroin and marijuana were found on the floor and a gun was found on top of a box of drug paraphernalia in the closet.

Due to his prior felony drug distribution conviction, the drug distribution conspiracy charge in the indictment carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, and a $20 million fine. The possession with intent to distribute charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The felon in possession of a firearm charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison. The possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison to run consecutively to any term imposed on the drug possession charge.

Almonte, Alvarez Martinez, Goris-Castellano, Lopez, Charlie Rodriguez, Stanel, and Trimarco have all pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. Almonte was sentenced to 46 months in prison in May 2017. Lopez was sentenced to 162 months in prison in July 2017.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Valerie Nickerson in Newark, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John B. Devito, with the investigation.

This case was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies dedicated to identifying and dismantling the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara F. Merin of the OCDETF/Narcotics Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.

The charges and allegations against Reinaldo Rodriguez are merely accusations, and he is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defense counsel: Elizabeth Smith Esq., Mendham, New Jersey