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Reinaldo “Memo” Rodriguez, 30, was part of a network that that stretched from the Bronx to Paterson and into suburban towns in all three counties, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
He was arrested last year with a large amount of heroin, as well as a gun that, as a convicted felon, he was prohibited from having, the U.S. attorney said.
Rodriguez, also known as “Killa,” had been in federal custody since May 2016, when authorities rounded up accused members of the crew – several of whom quickly took guilty pleas.
One ring member, Edwin Lopez of Elmwood Park, was sentenced to 13½ years in federal prison in July 2017. Another, Carolina Almonte of the Bronx, got four months in May 2017. Because there is no parole in the federal prison system, they must serve nearly their entire sentences.
Rodriguez opted instead for a trial, which lasted four days in U.S. District Court in Newark and ended with him convicted of conspiracy to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin and possession with the intent to distribute heroin.
The crew got their heroin from a supplier in the Bronx, where it was packaged and stamped “Goosebumps,” “Transformers,” “Wendy’s” and “New Jack City,” designating the source, Carpenito said.
Investigators watched as Rodriguez delivered stamped bricks of heroin to a confidential source, the U.S. attorney said, adding that Rodriguez was heard discussing drug trafficking on court-authorized wiretaps.
Carpenito credited special agents and task force officers of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Paterson Police Department with the investigation that led to Friday's conviction in federal court in Newark.
This case was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies dedicated to identifying and dismantling the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizationsm gw aUS.
Handling the case for the government are Senior Trial Counsel Jamie L. Hoxie of the OCDETF/Narcotics Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Suchorsky of the Organized Crime/Gangs Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.
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