SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Gimy Rodriguez, a/k/a “Carvo,” age 28, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on October 29, 2020, to 262 months’ imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release by United States District Judge Robert D. Mariani, for drug trafficking.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Rodriguez pled guilty in September 2019, to engaging in a conspiracy and other charges involving the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine throughout Luzerne County. Rodriguez was the leader of multiple co-conspirators and maintained hubs of operation in both Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre.
Rodriguez’s co-conspirators were sentenced to:
- Andrew J. Danko was sentenced to 68 months’ imprisonment;
- Angela Haggerty was sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment; and
- Hector Delacruz was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the DEA and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.