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Edwin Lopez, 31 – also known as “E” and “Pan” – admitted in April in U.S. District Court in Newark that he moved the heroin with four other men.
He was the first to accept a plea deal from the government, affecting how the cases unfolded against four co-defendants -- among them, Joseph Trimarco of Stony Point, who federal authorities said trafficked the heroin into Rockland County.
There's no parole in the federal prison system, which means Lopez will serve nearly all of the sentence -- with the possibility of a month or so off for good behavior.
Lopez admitted in April that he participated in the conspiracy from June 2015 until his arrest in April 2016.
At the time, he said, he was giving a $13,500 payment to one of Goris-Castellano’s couriers in exchange for 150 bricks of heroin.
Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara F. Merin of the OCDETF/Narcotics Unit in Fitzpatrick’s office.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Lopez to five years of supervised release.
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