ALBANY, NEW YORK - Jean Carlos Rivera-Perez, aka “Tego," age 37, of the Bronx, New York, pled guilty today to conspiring to traffic a kilogram or more of heroin in Schenectady.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Kevin Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and New York State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett.
In pleading guilty, Rivera-Perez admitted to being a member of a drug-trafficking organization that distributed a kilogram or more of heroin in Schenectady between 2017 and Dec. 20, 2018. Rivera-Perez was the organization’s supplier and, through a courier, regularly delivered hundreds of grams of heroin from the Bronx to Schenectady, receiving thousands of dollars in return. The heroin was then sold in personal-use amounts in and around Schenectady by other members of the organization.
Rivera-Perez was one of nine people indicted earlier this year as part of law enforcement’s dismantling of the heroin distribution ring. Six defendants, including Rivera-Perez, have pled guilty; the others are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Rivera-Perez faces at least 10 years and up life in prison, a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life, and a maximum fine of $10 million when he is sentenced on Feb. 18, 2020, by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by HSI, the New York State Police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Amsterdam Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyrus P.W. Rieck.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
