STAFF REPORTS
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BUFFALO — Twenty-two-year-old Alexis Javier Centeno-Baez of Buffalo, who was convicted following a jury trial of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine, and attempt to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, was sentenced to 63 months in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wei Xiang and Brendan T. Cullinane, who handled the case, stated that on August 25, 2015, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted a package shipped from Puerto Rico to an address in Buffalo. A search warrant was executed and revealed two individually wrapped kilograms of cocaine stuffed inside a LEGO box. During a controlled delivery, Centeno Baez went to the address and retrieved the package. When Drug Enforcement Administration Agents approached to arrest him, the defendant left the package in his car and fled on foot. Agents pursued Centeno Baez and apprehended him about three blocks away.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, and the United States Postal Service Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Shelly Binkowski.
