Man Sentenced to 178 Months for Conspiring to Import Cocaine into the United States
NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger announced a United States citizen who had been residing in the Dominican Republic was sentenced today to 178 months in prison for conspiring to import hundreds of pounds of cocaine into the United States from Venezuela, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic.
Edwin Nieves-Rosado, aka “Tortuga,” 56, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to Count One of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of cocaine. Judge Salas imposed a sentence today in Newark federal court.
From 2016 through Jan. 10, 2020, Nieves-Rosado and others conspired to import at least 800 kilograms of cocaine. Nieves-Rosado admitted playing a managerial role in this conspiracy, which involved more than five individuals.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Salas sentenced Nieves-Rosado to five years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration operating in New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark, as well as special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration operating in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. He also thanked the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance with the case.
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