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Press Release

Okeechobee County Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida

Miami, Florida – Today, a federal district judge in West Palm Beach sentenced a 31-year-old man from Okeechobee County, Florida, to 130 months in prison for drug trafficking.

Juan Manuel Nieves previously pled guilty to distribution of five grams or more of methamphetamine.  (Case No. 21-cr-14039).  

According to the court record, Nieves sold methamphetamine on three separate occasions in 2021.  Specifically, on June 15, 2021, Nieves sold 3.5 grams of methamphetamine to a buyer in Okeechobee, Florida, on July 2, 2021, Nieves sold 27.86 grams of methamphetamine to a buyer in Okeechobee, and on July 14, 2021, Nieves sold 26.12 grams of methamphetamine to a buyer in Okeechobee. 

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Deanne L. Reuter, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter.  Assistant U.S. Attorney William T. Zloch is handling asset forfeiture.

This prosecution is a result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, and other priority transnational criminal organizations that threaten the citizens of the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence driven, multi-agency approach to combat transnational organized crime.  The OCDETF program facilitates complex, joint operations by focusing its partner agencies on priority targets, by managing and coordinating multi-agency efforts, and by leveraging intelligence across multiple investigative platforms.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-14039.

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Contact

Marlene Rodriguez
Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney
Public Affairs Officer
USAFLS.News@usdoj.gov

Updated April 27, 2022

Topic
Drug Trafficking