Rochester Man Sentenced For Drug Trafficking And Drug Charge

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

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Raymond Collazo, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, was sentenced to 130 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who handled the case, stated that Collazo led a Rochester-based drug organization in which large quantities of crack cocaine and heroin were processed, packaged and resold in various quantities in Rochester. The defendant and co-defendant Luis Abril utilized multiple locations, including 617 Ridgeway Avenue in Rochester, to store, process, and distribute the narcotics, and armed themselves while doing so.

On April 24, 2014, Collazo, Abril, and others were arrested after law enforcement executed multiple search warrants in Rochester, as well as at Collazo’s residence in Orlando, Florida. The defendant and Abril were taken into custody at 617 Ridgeway Avenue where officers seized over 12 grams of cocaine packaged for sale, 200 grams of heroin, three loaded handguns, one of which was stolen, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $2,466 in U.S. currency, and paraphernalia for processing, packaging, and distributing cocaine and heroin. 

In February of 2015, Abril, was sentenced to 120 months in prison.

The conviction is the culmination of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and included involvement by the part of Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen,  Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ashan Benedict, New York Field Division, Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Sandra Doorley.