Brooklyn Drug Dealer Gets Near Six-Year Sentence for Cocaine Ring

BOSTON – Dinelson Hernandez-Rodriguez, a Brooklyn drug dealer, was today sentenced to 68 months in federal prison for his involvement in a major cocaine trafficking conspiracy that brought over 50 kilograms of the illegal substance into Boston. The 30-year-old was convicted by a jury in February 2024 of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

The investigation, which began in October 2019, uncovered a drug trafficking organization operating in Boston and Taunton. Hernandez-Rodriguez played a key role by transporting kilograms of cocaine from New York to Hyde Park, Massachusetts, in August 2020. His co-conspirator also moved significant quantities of the drug on the same day.

Law enforcement agents intercepted communications that revealed the DTO’s New York ties and later caught Hernandez-Rodriguez attempting to transport $240,240 in drug proceeds back to New York. He was apprehended before he could cross state lines.

Hernandez-Rodriguez is the ninth defendant convicted in this case. The investigation was a collaborative effort involving the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Connecticut State Police, and local police departments from Boston, Taunton, and Stratford, Conn. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel R. Feldman and K. Nathaniel Yeager of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit handled the prosecution.

This case is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which coordinates multi-agency efforts to disrupt major drug trafficking operations. OCDETF identifies and dismantles top-level criminal organizations across multiple jurisdictions.