A California man has been sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a cocaine distribution ring that smuggled the deadly drug into the United States from Mexico.
Buffalo, NY – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Benito Ruiz-Landa, 48, of Hesperia, California, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, was sentenced to 60 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
The sentencing was the culmination of an investigation led by Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge, New York Region.
Ruiz-Landa, who was living in California at the time of the crime, received shipments of cocaine from Mexico between January 2008 and June 2010. He and his co-conspirator, Miguel Robles-Diaz, then distributed the cocaine throughout the United States, including the Buffalo area.
Ruiz-Landa was arrested in New York City in June 2010 following a wiretap operation which recorded a conversation involving the defendant and the sale of a kilogram of cocaine.
Miguel Robles-Diaz pleaded guilty to a similar charge and was sentenced to 33 months in prison in April 2013.
Following the completion of his federal sentence and after a state charge in New York City is resolved, Ruiz-Landa will be deported back to his native country of Mexico.
Related Federal Cases
- Shannell Gosine, Cocaine Distribution, New York 2023 · California
- Casey Kocher, Cocaine Possession with Intent to Distribute, New York 2023 · Kansas
- Parminder Sidhu, Cocaine Export Conspiracy, New York 2024 · Virginia
- Junior Rafael Arias Soto, Fentanyl Distribution, New York 2020 · Virginia
- Ernest Shaw, Sr., Cocaine Conspiracy, New York 2007 · Indiana
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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