STAFF REPORTS
BUFFALO — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Iramarie Velez, 37, of Tonawanda, who was convicted of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine, was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Adler, who handled the case, stated that on December 15, 2017, U.S. Postal inspectors seized a package, shipped from Puerto Rico, containing just over two kilograms of cocaine that was addressed to Iramarie Velez on Crane Place in Tonawanda, NY. The cocaine was replaced with sham cocaine, and then the package was delivered on December 28, 2017. After Velez accepted the package, she left the residence but returned a few minutes later with co-defendant Osvaldo Rivera-Amaro. Velez went back into the residence, came back out with the package, and placed it in the back of the Rivera-Amaro’s vehicle. Rivera-Amaro was subsequently detained, his vehicle was searched, and the package, containing the sham cocaine, was located in the trunk.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Boston Division Inspector-in-Charge Joseph W. Cronin, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division.
