NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 288 months in prison for conspiring to distribute at least one kilogram of heroin, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Police say Yasmil Minaya, a/k/a “Animal,” 33, was previously convicted on both counts of the indictment against him: one count of conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.
Minaya was convicted following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty, who imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:
Law enforcement officials learned that Minaya and his co-defendants were serving as New Jersey and New York area distributors for a drug trafficking organization operating in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and elsewhere.
The organization’s narcotics were usually transported to this area via truck and were paid for by the defendants before being sold on the street.
The drug organization has been linked to several multiple-kilogram seizures of heroin, including a seizure of approximately two kilograms of heroin in March 2015, four kilograms in November 2015, and 10 kilograms in January 2017.
In addition to the prison term, Judge McNulty sentenced Minaya to five years of supervised release.
This case is being conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).
The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.