Orlando, Florida - U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Gonzalez (49, Kissimmee) to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute one kilogram of fentanyl. The Court also ordered Gonzalez-Gonzalez to forfeit a vehicle used to facilitate the offense.
Gonzalez-Gonzalez had pleaded guilty on October 7, 2021.
According to court documents, from November 2020 through February 2021, Gonzalez-Gonzalez communicated with a source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. In November 2020, Gonzalez-Gonzalez agreed to sell two kilograms of heroin to the source, but that transaction was not consummated because he demanded a photograph of the $116,000 the source had agreed to provide. In February 2021, Gonzalez-Gonzalez again arranged to sell two kilograms of heroin to the source, this time agreeing to deliver the first of two kilograms before receiving $58,000 in payment. On Feb. 2, 2021, Gonzalez-Gonzalez arranged for a conspirator, Miguel Angel Ramirez-Laboy (41 Kissimmee), to drive separately to Haines City to meet with the purported buyer with the kilogram of drugs in his vehicle. During that trip, law enforcement stopped Ramirez-Laboy and found him to be transporting 1004.9 grams of fentanyl. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency or to disguise it as highly potent heroin.
Ramirez-Laboy pleaded guilty on Aug. 16, 2021 and was sentenced to 24 months’ incarceration on Oct. 19, 2021.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Osceola County Investigative Bureau. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
