FLORIDA – A Pasco County man has been sentenced to nearly two decades in prison for conspiring to distribute over 100 kilos of cocaine in the Tampa area.
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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO), U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Jonathan Rivera-Roman, 35, of Hudson, to 19 years and seven months in federal prison for conspiring to traffic cocaine and for distribution of cocaine.
As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture for $108,000, which was seized from a co-conspirator.
Mr Rivera-Roman was arrested and detained on March 29, 2023. He entered a guilty plea on November 8, 2023. Rivera-Roman’s co-defendant, Angel Martinez-Pantoja, was sentenced on February 23, 2024, to 10 years in prison.
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A third co-defendant, Oscar Borelli-Ortiz, is reportedly a fugitive from justice.
According to court documents, Mr Rivera-Roman operated a drug trafficking organization in Pasco County that received cocaine shipped from Puerto Rico. Following several controlled purchases of cocaine from Martinez-Pantoja, authorities learned on August 28, 2021, of an imminent plan for the organization to be resupplied via Borelli-Ortiz in Orlando.
Authorities conducted three traffic stops that evening and executed several search warrants the next day, resulting in the seizures of bulk cash, firearms, and several kilograms of cocaine, said the USAO.
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According to testimony presented at sentencing, the Rivera-Roman organization was responsible for obtaining at least 100 kilograms of cocaine for distribution in the Tampa Bay area. Mr Rivera-Roman also used a beauty product supply business to launder his drug proceeds.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pasco County Office, and the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation investigated this case as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Dan Baeza is prosecuting it.
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