Lockport Man Sentenced For Attempting To Retrieve Cocaine Mailed From Puerto Rico In An Oatmeal Container

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Juan M. Serrano Acevedo, also known as Juan Acevedo-Serrano, 36, of Lockport, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine, was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan T. Cullinane, who handled the case, stated that in late October of 2015, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted a package shipped from Puerto Rico to an address in Lockport. During the execution of a search warrant on the package, law enforcement officers discovered two pounds of cocaine hidden inside an oatmeal canister. At that time, the USPIS removed the cocaine from the package. 

On December 30, 2015, Serrano Acevedo went to the Lockport Post Office to sign for and accept the package addressed to him. After exiting the post office, the defendant was arrested. Following the arrest, Serrano Acevedo admitted that he ordered the cocaine, that he had previously received a package that contained cocaine, and that he sold cocaine.

Today’s sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Division, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Boston Division Inspector-in-Charge Joseph W. Cronin.