MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Juan Manuel De La Rosa-Tejada, of Hagerstown, Maryland, has admitted to a drug conspiracy, United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced.
De La Rosa-Tejada, 36, pleaded guilty today to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Five Kilograms or More of a Mixture or Substance Containing Cocaine.” De La Rosa-Tejada admitted to working with others to distribute cocaine from August 2020 to June 2021 in Berkeley County and elsewhere.
De La Rosa-Tejada faces at least 10 years and up to life incarceration and a fine of up to $10,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lara Omps-Botteicher and Timothy D. Helman are prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the FBI; United States Marshals Service; Homeland Security Investigations; ATF; the West Virginia Air National Guard; West Virginia State Police; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the FBI-New York Safe Streets Task Force; New Jersey State Police investigated. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania assisted.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.