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Yonkers resident Michael Rodriguez, age 49, pleaded guilty to drug and conspiracy charges on Thursday, Oct. 12 in Orange County Court, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced.
Rodriguez is the Director of Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (B.R.A.G.), an anti-violence program that receives government funding for its mission of promoting safety in the Bronx, officials said.
According to the District Attorney's Office, Rodriguez's arrest stemmed from a two-year-long investigation into cocaine trafficking in Middletown allegedly committed by 39-year-old Otisville resident Angelica Rodriguez, also known as "Jelly."
This investigation, conducted by Middletown Police and the Orange County Drug Taskforce, eventually failed to reveal evidence showing the extent of Rodriguez's narcotics operation through conventional means. As a result, the DA's Office then applied for permission to use court-ordered eavesdropping, which led to authorities realizing that the same cocaine suppliers giving drugs to Rodriguez and her co-conspirators were also supplying them to traffickers in Port Jervis.
Once this realization was made, Michael Rodriguez became a person of interest in the case and was accused of supplying cocaine to dealers in both Middletown and Port Jervis in addition to possessing two illegally possessed handguns.
On Wednesday, July 26, investigators executed a search warrant at Rodriguez's Yonkers home and seized over 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, over $165,000, scales, a money counter, an unlicensed Ruger .380 caliber pistol, an unlicensed Bond Arms .357 caliber handgun, and jewelry estimated to be worth around $50,000, officials said.
During the plea proceedings, Rodriguez admitted to entering into a conspiracy with Angelica Rodriguez and supplying her with cocaine to resell, according to the DA's Office. He pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree conspiracy.
When Rodriguez returns to court on Thursday, Jan. 4, he is expected to be sentenced to an aggregate term of ten years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He also agreed to forfeit a car and $165,000 as proceeds of his criminal activity, officials said.
"It is appalling that the Director of a respected program which serves to reduce gun violence and help at-risk youth would himself be a major drug dealer,” Hoovler said of Rodriguez's crimes, adding, "Those members of our community who suffer through addiction are the vulnerable prey to people like this defendant, who chose a comfortable life cultivated on the backs and over the bodies of his customers."
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