Two men have been sentenced to substantial federal prison terms for their roles in a wide-ranging drug conspiracy involving heroin, fake Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, and cocaine. United States District Judge Richard G. Andrews sentenced Julian Rivera-Villa, 57, yesterday and his co-defendant, Ricardo Perez-Guillen, 41, on April 13, 2021. Rivera-Villa received a sentence of over 10 years imprisonment; Perez-Guillen received over seven years of federal prison time.
According to public statements and court documents, Rivera-Villa and Perez-Guillen, both of Gloucester City, New Jersey, conspired to distribute 10 kilograms of heroin and approximately 14,000 fentanyl-laced fake Oxycodone pills. Perez-Guillen was arrested on August 21, 2019, in New Castle, Delaware after selling a kilogram of heroin and 600 fake Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl. Rivera-Villa was arrested the same day outside the residence he shared with Perez-Guillen in Gloucester City.
Inside that residence, Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) agents and task force officers found 7 additional kilograms of heroin, 13,000 more fake Oxycodone pills, and 3 kilograms of cocaine. They found another two kilograms of heroin located inside hidden traps behind the seats of a nearby car registered to Perez-Guillen.
The street value of the seized drugs was in excess of $1 million. The amount of heroin seized is conservatively estimated at 1.4 million doses.
David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware noted that these convictions resulted from the largest federal seizure of heroin and fake Oxycodone pills by Delaware law enforcement in recent memory, stating: “My office is committed to combatting the opioid epidemic by bringing to justice those most responsible for flooding our communities with deadly heroin and fentanyl. We will continue to seek significant federal prison terms against those profiting off the addictions of others.”
“These defendants were responsible for trafficking multi-kilogram amounts of heroin, fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills, and cocaine,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division. “Poly-drug violators such as Rivera-Villa and Perez-Guillen are drug-traffickers that pose the greatest threat to our community. I would like to thank all of our partner law enforcement agencies in Wilmington and Camden County, New Jersey that helped make these arrests possible.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Ibrahim prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the DEA’s Wilmington Resident Office Tactical Diversion Squad and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (“HIDTA”) Group 41, comprised of law enforcement officers from the DEA, Middletown Police Department, Newark Police Department, Delaware Probation and Parole, Wilmington Police Department, New Castle County Police Department, Delaware Alcohol & Tobacco Enforcement, Delaware State Police, and Maryland State Police.
The DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office also wish to thank Homeland Security Investigations, Wilmington Resident Office, DEA-HIDTA in Camden, New Jersey, and the Camden County Sheriff’s SERT team for their assistance in this investigation.
SOURCE: USDOJ
