COLUMBUS, Ohio - A U.S. District Court jury convicted Oscar Collado-Rivera, 32, of New Albany, Ohio of conspiring with others to distribute nearly 200 kilograms of cocaine involving at least $4 million in U.S. currency over a six-month period in 2015.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman of the Southern District of Ohio, Timothy Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS), and agencies in a state and local task force announced the verdict reached yesterday following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson.
Evidence presented during the trial established that Collado-Rivera and others were responsible for arranging large shipments of cocaine from Mexico and Texas into the Columbus area.
“Collado-Rivera is the ninth defendant convicted out of 12 defendants charged in April," U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “Disrupting the networks that bring illegal drugs into central Ohio requires tremendous cooperation by federal, state and local agencies." Glassman noted that the three remaining defendants are believed to have fled the United States.
The jury convicted Collado-Rivera of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up to life. Judge Watson will determine the sentence following a pre-sentence investigation by the court. Task Force officers arrested Collado-Rivera in December 2015 based on a federal criminal complaint. He has been in custody since his arrest.
Glassman commended Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott’s Office, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and the investigators with police departments in Pickerington, Upper Arlington and Westerville who conducted the investigation, as well as Deputy Criminal Chief Michael Hunter and Appellate Chief Mary Beth Young, who represent the United States in prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
