United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

PENNSYLVANIA MAN INVOLVED IN COCAINE TRAFFICKING RING SENTENCED TO MORE THAN FIVE YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARCOS RIVAS, 29, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Peter C. Dorsey in New Haven to 63 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release.  On September 25, 2008, RIVAS pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine.

This matter stems from an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) investigation dubbed “Operation Ragdoll,” which was spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Hartford.  According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, between May 30 and June 1, 2006, RIVAS was intercepted in telephone conversations with co-defendant Domingo Guzman of Bridgeport negotiating to receive 500 grams of cocaine as part of a shipment of cocaine Guzman expected to be sent from Puerto Rico to an associate, co-defendant Luis Joel Soto-Solivan, in Fall River, Massachusets.  On June 1, 2006, the DEA intercepted a package in Fall River that contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine.

On June 20, 2006, Guzman was arrested in Bridgeport, at which time approximately $55,980 in drug proceeds were seized from his Chamberlain Avenue residence. Guzman subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and, on October 8, 2008, he was sentenced Judge Dorsey to 220 months of imprisonment.

Soto-Solivan pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.  On September 27, 2007, Judge Dorsey sentenced him to 262 months of imprisonment.

Acting U.S. Attorney Dannehy commended the law enforcement agents and officers who conducted the investigation and praised their devoted efforts to identify, disrupt and dismantle this substantial narcotics trafficking operation.

This investigation was a collaborative effort of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Britain Police Department, and the Fall River (MA) Police Department.  This matter was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert M. Spector and S. Dave Vatti.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov