BUFFALO — A 23-year-old Buffalo man, Jonathan Ortiz, was sentenced to 57 months in prison, having been convicted of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine. In a related case, his brother, 25-year-old Reynaldo Ortiz, also of Buffalo, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and distribution of heroin and use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes before Judge Wolford. Those charges together carry a minimum penalty of 20 years in prison, a maximum of life and a $10,250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang stated that in April 2015, law enforcement officers intercepted a package mailed from Puerto Rico to a residence on Hudson Street in Buffalo. The package contained a set of audio speakers. Four packets of cocaine, each weighing approximately one-eighth of a kilogram, were secreted inside the speakers. A controlled delivery of the package led to its retrieval by Jonathan Ortiz and another individual. The two were arrested after a sensor alerted officers that the package was opened.
Reynaldo Ortiz sold heroin and cocaine in the vicinity of Maryland Street and Trenton Avenue in Buffalo. At the time of his arrest in September 2015, he possessed a loaded AK-47-type rifle and two magazines containing 36 rounds of ammunition. Ortiz admitted to exchanging gunfire with a rival drug dealer over territory in the vicinity of Hudson Street and 7th Street.
Sentencing for Reynaldo Ortiz will be scheduled at a later date before Judge Wolford.
