Derek Morales-Figueroa, Cocaine Conspiracy, Florida 2020

A brazen attempt to buy $600,000 worth of cocaine in Orlando back in 2020 has finally led to a guilty plea from one of the conspirators.

Derek Morales-Figueroa, 26, of Orlando, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. Morales-Figueroa faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison.

A sentencing date has not yet been set for Morales-Figueroa, who was identified during a traffic stop in Flagler County in March 2021 and fled from law enforcement. He was later arrested in Jacksonville in January 2022 in connection with a search of a residence and seizure of nine kilograms of cocaine.

According to court documents, Morales-Figueroa and a conspirator, Jacob Luis Bonilla-Rivera, engaged in a series of phone calls with individuals they believed to be cocaine dealers but were actually undercover agents working on behalf of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The discussions culminated in an agreement to purchase 20 kilograms of cocaine in Orlando on September 16, 2020.

HSI agents met with Bonilla-Rivera and Juan Omar Rodriguez, Jr. (21, Auburndale) where the conspirators showed them the $600,000 in cash they had brought to the deal in a hidden compartment in one of their vehicles. After doing so, Bonilla-Rivera and Rodriguez proceeded to a location where HSI agents had arranged to show them the 20 kilograms of cocaine. Morales-Figueroa participated in inspecting the cocaine by video conferencing on one of the conspirator’s phones.

After inspecting the cocaine, Bonilla-Rivera and Rodriguez returned to their car to retrieve the cash from the hidden compartment, at which time they were arrested. Upon searching their vehicles, HSI agents found that both Bonilla-Rivera and Rodriguez had loaded firearms in their possession in the vehicles they had driven to the meeting along with a total of $639,325 cash. In his plea agreement, Morales-Figueroa agreed to forfeit the cash seized in connection with this arrest.

Bonilla-Rivera and Rodriguez were charged for their roles in the conspiracy on September 17, 2020, and both pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

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