A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against an alleged member of a heroin distribution conspiracy that reached from the Bronx, New York, to Paterson and suburban communities in New York and New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Officials said Reinaldo Rodriguez, a/k/a “Money,” a/k/a “Mimo,” 29, of Paterson, is charged in a four-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin, possession with intent to distribute heroin and marijuana, felony possession a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Police arrested him in May 2016 and has been in custody since that time.
Officials originally charged Reinaldo Rodriguez by complaint with Juan Pablo Goris-Castellano, 27, of the Bronx; Edwin Lopez, 32, of Elmwood Park, New Jersey; Carolina Almonte, 30, of the Bronx; Charlie Rodriguez, 34, of Paterson; Victor Alfonso Alvarez Martinez, 28, of the Bronx; Edward M. Stanel, 27, of Parsippany, New Jersey; and Joseph Trimarco, 30, of Stony Point, New York.
According to documents filed in this case:
From June 2015 through May 2016, the defendants participated in a drug trafficking organization that amassed wholesale quantities of heroin at multiple locations in and around the Bronx and used couriers to deliver large quantities of that heroin to mid-level drug dealers operating in and around Paterson. The heroin was either sold in the Paterson area or re-distributed to street-level drug dealers in suburban areas, including but not limited to, Morris County, New Jersey, and Rockland County, New York.
According to authorities, Goris-Castellano, who was based out of the Bronx, packaged and distributed large quantities of heroin to Lopez, who operated out of Paterson. Goris-Castellano worked with his associates, Almonte and Alvarez Martinez, who brought the heroin to Lopez and returned to Goris-Castellano with Lopez’s payment for the drugs. Lopez then sold portions of that heroin to Charlie Rodriguez, who, working closely with Reinaldo Rodriguez, resold portions of that heroin to street-level drug dealers in Paterson and suburban areas, including Stanel and Trimarco, who operated in Morris County and Rockland County, respectively.
At the time of his arrest, Reinaldo Rodriguez was in a bedroom in which distribution quantities of heroin and marijuana were found on the floor and a gun was found on top of a box of drug paraphernalia in the closet.
Due to his prior felony drug distribution conviction, the drug distribution conspiracy charge in the indictment carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, and a $20 million fine.
The possession with intent to distribute charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The felon in possession of a firearm charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison.
The possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison to run consecutively to any term imposed on the drug possession charge.
Officials said Almonte, Alvarez Martinez, Goris-Castellano, Lopez, Charlie Rodriguez, Stanel, and Trimarco have all pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.
According to authorities, Almonte was sentenced to 46 months in prison in May 2017. Lopez was sentenced to 162 months in prison in July 2017.