Philadelphia to Yonkers Cocaine Route Closed; 3 Kilos and $300k Cash Found Stashed in Yonkers Apartment
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced today prison sentences for three defendants convicted of illegal narcotics possession and inter-state drug trafficking, with an additional sentence for one of the defendants who investigators discovered had videos and images of children engaged in sexual acts on his cell phone.
DA Rocah said: “The successful prosecution of these cases reflect our strong commitment to removing drug traffickers from our communities and securing a sense of safety in our neighborhoods. This is a result of yet another strong partnership with our federal, state and local law enforcement on cracking down on the flow of illegal narcotics from out of state, and also the intra-office collaboration between investigations and cybercrimes to identify someone who also posed a threat to children.”
A six-month multi-agency investigation that began in February 2022 focused on the illegal possession and trafficking of cocaine from Philadelphia to Yonkers between the three defendants. The High Technology Crimes Squad of the DA’s Office conducted a forensic analysis of the defendants’ cell phones and discovered text message photos of drug sales, including images of cash and cocaine worth more than $1 million, which demonstrated the role of the defendants in this crime.
Christian Miranda, 34 of Yonkers, was sentenced on June 5 before Judge James McCarty to nine years in state prison, with five years of post-release supervision, after pleading guilty to Operating as a Major Trafficker and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree. The defendant was arrested on Aug. 2, 2022, along with Rivera, by the DEA’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force (DETF-13), which recovered three kilograms of cocaine and more than $300,000 hidden in furniture at their Yonkers apartment.
· Marco Rivera, 31 of Philadelphia, was sentenced on Sept. 28 before Judge Robert Neary to 12 years in state prison, with five years of post-release supervision. Following a three-week trial, a jury on May 11 found the defendant guilty of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.
o In addition to his drug conviction and sentence, the defendant was also sentenced on Oct. 19 before Judge Susan Cacace to an indeterminate term of 1 1/3 to four years in state prison for his guilty plea to three counts of Possessing an Obscene Sexual Performance by a Child. This follows a 57-count indictment by a Westchester County Grand Jury in March for Possessing an Obscene Sexual Performance by a Child stemming from DA’s Office forensic investigators discovering multiple videos and files of children engaged in sexual acts on the defendant’s cell phone. The court decided both sentences will run concurrently.
· Mark Figueroa, 61 of Brooklyn, was sentenced on June 8 before Judge McCarty to six years in state prison, with two years of post-release supervision, after pleading guilty to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. DETF-13 arrested the defendant and recovered an additional four kilograms of cocaine inside his car following a drug exchange with Miranda on Nepperhan Street in Yonkers.
The District Attorney thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, a unit comprised of agents and officers of the DEA, New York City Police Department and New York State Police.
The cases were prosecuted by Violent Criminal Enterprise Deputy Bureau Chief Christopher Clark and Cyber Crimes Deputy Bureau Chief Laura Forbes, both of the Trials and Investigations Division.
