STAFF REPORTS
BUFFALO — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Sucley Romero, 28, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years and a $5,000,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins, who is handling the case, stated that between July and September 29, 2017, the defendant conspired with others to sell cocaine.
In July 2017, Romero agreed with co-defendant Daniel Navarro to receive a package of cocaine, shipped from Puerto Rico, at her Tower Street residence in exchange for payment. The defendant knew that the package contained cocaine and belonged to Cesar Rivera-Figueroa, who was the leader of a drug trafficking organization managed, at the time, by Daniel Navarro. Romero also knew that the cocaine would be distributed in the Buffalo area.
On July 26, 2017, a United States Postal Service parcel addressed to the defendant was intercepted by the United States Postal Inspection Service. A few days later, a search warrant was executed on the package. Concealed within a toy “cash box” was a kilogram-sized brick of suspected cocaine.
Romero is one of 12 defendants charged in this case and the fifth to be convicted. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 22, 2019, before Judge Vilardo.
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