Source: United States Department of Justice News
WASHINGTON – Arraignments were held today for four alleged members of a drug trafficking conspiracy. Jorge Cruz Maldonado, Francisco Alexander Rosales Diaz, Erik Rivera Garcia, and Vladimir Roque Ceron are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.
The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Washington Field Division.
Cruz Maldonado also is charged with unlawful distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine; Cruz Maldonado, Rosales Diaz, and Rivera Garcia are charged with unlawful possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense; Rivera Garcia also is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person. Rosales Diaz additionally is charged with unlawful possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.
According to court documents, on or about Aug. 18, 2023, Cruz Maldonado, Rivera Garcia, and Rosales Diaz arrived in a vehicle at the parking lot of a shopping center in Northeast Washington, DC to conduct a drug deal. Shortly after, DEA agents approached all three individuals in their car and detained them. Inside the vehicle, DEA agents discovered and seized a loaded .38 caliber revolver, a loaded 9mm handgun, numerous rounds of ammunition for each firearm, an extended magazine, and approximately 3.6 kilograms of cocaine powder.
It is further alleged that between March and June 2023, through five transactions in Hyattsville, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., Roque Ceron sold a total of approximately 111 pills containing fentanyl and 197 grams of cocaine powder for $8,250; and, through two transactions between June and August 2023 in Washington, DC, Cruz Maldonado sold a total of approximately 581 grams of cocaine powder for $16,000. It is further alleged that Cruz Maldonado is Roque Ceron’s supplier of fentanyl and cocaine, and that together with Rosales Diaz and Rivera Garcia, they are engaged in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl.
Cruz Maldonado, Rosales Diaz, and Rivera Garcia were arrested on Aug. 18, 2023, and remain detained; Roque Ceron was arrested on August 20, 2023, and remains detained.
The maximum statutory sentence for the drug conspiracy charge is 40 years; the maximum statutory sentence for distributing or possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine is 40 years; the maximum statutory sentence for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense is life imprisonment; and the maximum statutory sentence for possessing a firearm and/or ammunition by a prohibited person is 15 years. All statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, a defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was investigated by the DEA’s Washington Field Division with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Washington Enforcement and Removal Operations) and the Metropolitan Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Javier Urbina and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Marin with the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.