Cocaine Trafficking Gets Former New Haven Man 5-Years In Prison: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT — Pedro Luis Rivera-Rodriquez, 39, formerly of New Haven then Florida, was sentenced in U.S. District Court Monday to serve 66 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release, for trafficking cocaine, the Justice Department announced.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2019, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service received information that Rivera-Rodriguez, who formerly resided in New Haven, was trafficking large quantities of cocaine, according to Vanessa Roberts Avery, U. S. Attorney for Connecticut. In November 2019, an individual working with investigators negotiated with Rivera-Rodriguez to purchase a kilogram of cocaine from a supplier in Puerto Rico for $22,500, per Avery. Rivera-Rodriguez also indicated that he was prepared to sell a kilogram of pure fentanyl and more than 30,000 Percocet pills, and he shipped a sample of fentanyl to Connecticut as part of an expected transaction, federal prosecutors said.

Rivera-Rodriguez was arrested Feb. 18, 2020 and on Sept. 10, 2021, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, per Justice.

Rivera-Rodriguez, who was released on bond, was remanded to custody when his sentence was handed down Monday.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ruff.