Luis Manuel Quesada Rodriguez, Alex Rivera Ramos, Pedro Diaz, Cocaine Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2023

HARRISBURG – In a significant blow to the narcotics trade, three York men have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their roles in a large-scale cocaine trafficking operation.

Luis Manuel Quesada Rodriguez, 32, Alex Rivera Ramos, 30, and Pedro Diaz, 27, all of York, Pennsylvania, were each sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson for trafficking cocaine.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, between December 2015 and March 2020, the defendants coordinated and received parcels containing kilogram quantities of cocaine sent from Puerto Rico through the U.S. Mail, and then distributed the cocaine in and around York.

Each of the three defendants, along with a fourth co-defendant, Carlos Joel Nieves Ortega, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute between 5 and 15 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride.

As part of the investigation, the government disrupted the organization’s cocaine shipments and seized 7.5 kilograms of cocaine along with $16,895 in drug proceeds.

Co-defendant Carlos Joel Nieves Ortega, 37, of York, was previously sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment for his involvement in the cocaine trafficking conspiracy, and co-defendant Jose Colon Declet, 36, of York, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel S. Dalke and Daryl F. Bloom prosecuted the case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation, which targets high-level drug traffickers and money launderers.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Drug Trafficking

Craig Barclay, Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Iowa 2014

Feb 19, 2015

Drug Trafficking

Tyrone Nance, Gun & Drug Conviction, New York 2013

Nov 18, 2014

Drug Trafficking

Samuel Ykem Boler, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Mississippi 2018

May 14, 2025

Drug Trafficking

Gregory Keith McCoy, Methamphetamine Possession with Intent to Distribute, Wyoming 2025

Aug 15, 2026