FLORIDA — A Tampa man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking operation that distributed heroin and fentanyl throughout the area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Jose Miriel Morales Sanchez, 32, reportedly conspired with others, including the leader of the drug trafficking organization (DTO), William Franqui, to distribute heroin and fentanyl from September 2017 through August 2020.
Mr. Morales Sanchez pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2024.
According to court documents, the DTO, led by Franqui, employed “runners” to distribute heroin in $10 baggies to users. More than a kilogram of heroin was said to have been distributed through this network. The DTO was also linked to multiple overdoses caused by the heroin and fentanyl it supplied.
In August 2023, Mr Franqui was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy. Several other members of the DTO, including Kevin Darnell Diaz Tirado, Edgardo Colon Rosado, Orlando Muniz Escalera, and Franqui’s wife, Marie Rodriguez, have also been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from three years and four months to 10 years.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and the Tampa Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore prosecuted the case.
This investigation was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, which aims to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.
