BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Benito Ruiz-Landa, 48, of Hesperia, California, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, was sentenced to 60 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas S. Duszkiewicz, who handled the case, stated that between January 2008 and June 2010, the defendant along with co-conspirator Miguel Robles-Diaz, while living in California, received shipments of cocaine from Mexico. The two defendants then distributed the cocaine throughout the United States, including the Buffalo area. Ruiz-Landa was arrested in New York City in June 2010 following a wiretap operation which recorded a conversation involving the defendant and the sale of a kilogram of cocaine.
Miguel Robles-Diaz pleaded guilty to a similar charge and was sentenced to 33 months in prison in April 2013.
Following the completion of his federal sentence and after a state charge in New York City is resolved, Ruiz-Landa will be deported back to his native country of Mexico.
The sentencing was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge, New York Region.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
