A New York City Police Officer pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Adolphus Wright, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, and John Brooks, Chief, Sunrise Police Department, made the announcement.
Phillip Leroy, 28, of Queens, New York, pled guilty to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute multiple kilograms of cocaine. According to the stipulated factual basis, beginning in November 2014, an undercover officer engaged in a series of telephone conversations with co-defendant Richard Quintanilla to arrange the sale of ten kilograms of cocaine to Leroy and co-defendant Brian Espinal, in exchange for $200,000. On Nov. 30, 2014, Leroy and Espinal drove from New York to South Florida, and on Dec. 1, 2014, Leroy, Espinal and Quintanilla met with the undercover officer in order to facilitate the drug transaction. At the meeting location, Leroy and Espinal retrived approximately $200,000 from the back of their vehicle and provided it to the undercover officer in exchange for ten kilograms of cocaine. Leroy and Espinal then concealed the cocaine inside a hidden compartment located in the center console of their vehicle. As Leroy and Espinal prepared to leave the scene, they were apprehended. A loaded, 9 mm handgun, with one round in the chamber, was recovered underneath Leroy’s seat. The firearm was Leroy’s off-duty service revolver. Leroy admitted that he accompanied Espinal to Florida in order to purchase multiple kilograms of cocaine that they intended to transport back to New York.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 5, 2015 at 1:15 p.m. before United States District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas. At sentencing, Leroy faces a minimum mandatory sentence of ten years and a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. Leroy’s co-conspirators, Brian Espinal and Richard Quintanilla, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and are scheduled to be sentenced on May 15 and 18, 2014, respectively.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the DEA and Sunrise Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Steinberg.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
