Rochester Man Going To Prison For His Role In Multi-Million Dollar Narcotics Conspiracy

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

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Gerardo Ballardo, 27, of Riverbank, California, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering, was sentenced to serve 84 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Adler, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant conspired with co-defendants Jose Manuel Lua-Guizar, Enrique Munoz, Max Riestra, Pethrod Dunnigan, and others, to sell cocaine. Ballardo obtained multiple kilograms of cocaine to distribute in cities around the country including Buffalo, NY, and Chicago, IL. The defendant received Federal Express packages, containing multiple kilograms of cocaine, addressed to him or to a co-conspirator. The packages were shipped from California and would typically be addressed to a hotel in which Ballardo was staying. Ballardo would then deliver the kilograms of cocaine to co-conspirators, traveling to Buffalo, Chicago, and elsewhere.

In August 2014, Ballardo and Jose Manuel Lua-Guizar were detained in the Minneapolis Airport on their way to Chicago after the two had been in Buffalo just days prior. During that detention, a drug ledger was seized from the defendant along with over $12,000 in U.S. Currency, which was the proceeds of drug sales.  During the course of the conspiracy, most of the drug proceeds were sent back to California by structured deposits under the $10,000 reporting requirement. Ballardo made over 30 structured deposits (mostly amounts of $9,900) in Buffalo alone. Ballardo and his co-conspirators accounted for over $1,000,000 in structured deposits in Buffalo, and over $10,000,000 in structured deposits nationwide during the conspiracy. A ledger for structured deposits was also recovered from a stash house in California.

A total of seven defendants were charged and convicted in this case.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division; Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly; and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent- in-Charge, New York Field Office. Additional assistance was provided by ICE-HSI in Los Angeles, California, and Bank of America.

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