8 defendants in Puerto Rican cocaine trafficking organization sentenced in federal court

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The final three of eight defendants in related cocaine conspiracy cases were sentenced in U.S. District Court throughout the last two weeks, including lead defendant Herminio Gonzalez-Quintana, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The drug trafficking organization shipped tens of kilograms of cocaine into Ohio from Puerto Rico.

Gonzalez-Quintana and several coconspirators were indicted in November 2023 and charged with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute bulk amounts of cocaine.

According to court documents, in 2021, the DEA began investigating the drug trafficking organization that was transporting large volumes of cocaine into the Southern District of Ohio. The defendants sourced cocaine in and through Puerto Rico and shipped the drugs in 2-to-3-kilogram increments through the United States Postal Service to the Columbus area, often to the addresses of friends and family members, using fictitious recipient names. Conspirators then received and redistributed the cocaine from central Ohio.

The drug trafficking organization was responsible for a steady stream of illicit drugs into Ohio and elsewhere. In total, law enforcement seized nearly 20 kilograms of cocaine that were tied to this drug trafficking organization.

The defendants and sentences imposed include:

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Andrew Lawton, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Detroit Division, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley. Assistant United States Attorneys S. Courter Shimeall and Jennifer M. Rausch represented the United States in this case.

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