3 Indicted For Distributing Cocaine In MoCo, DC: Police

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Three men who police say were involved in a drug trafficking organization distributing cocaine throughout the Washington, D.C. area, including Montgomery County, were indicted in the District of Columbia recently, according to a police release.

Two of the men face an additional charge stemming from a homicide that took place in Puerto Rico.

Rey Rivera Ruiz, 39, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was indicted on May 26, in D.C., according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Authorities identified Ruiz as the alleged leader of the organization. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. He was also charged with one count of continuing criminal enterprise, for his leadership and supervisory role in the drug trafficking organization, according to the release.

Jann Jousten Aponte Rivera, 26, and Michael Gabriel Hernandez Rivera, 20, both of San Juan, Puerto Rico, were also indicted. They were charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, according to authorities.

Additionally, Aponte Rivera and Hernandez Rivera were charged with one count of continuing criminal enterprise and one count of causing the death through the use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense. These additional charges were for the "intentional death"of 44-year-old Shantay Butler, according to court documents.

Butler was fatally shot while traveling in the passenger seat of a vehicle being driven by a local drug trafficker in Levittown, Puerto Rico on Oct. 14, 2020. At the time, the driver owed the Puerto Rico drug trafficking ring several thousand dollars, according to court documents. Police say that Aponte Rivera and Hernandez Rivera pulled out firearms and shot at the local drug trafficker and his vehicle. Butler died from his injuries and the driver, who received multiple gunshot wounds, survived.

Members of the drug trafficking organization traveled from San Juan to Washington, D.C. via commercial airliners to deliver the proceeds from their criminal activities to Ruiz Rivera and others, police say.

Evidence presented during the indictment reported that Ruiz Rivera and his associates shipped between 50 kilograms and 150 kilograms to the D.C.-area drug trafficking ring. The operation was in effect from October 2019 to April 2021, ending with the indictment of Ruiz Rivera, Aponte Rivera, and Hernandez Rivera and an addition individual, according to authorities. The three defendants have been in custody since their arrest in April 2021.

If convicted of all the charges, the three defendants face a mandatory-minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison or death, according to authorities.