Mario Zapata Velez, Cocaine Trafficking, Massachusetts 2023

State: Massachusetts
Category: Drug Trafficking
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/alleged-member-la-oficina-de-envigado-pleads-guilty-role-drug-trafficking-conspiracy" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – In a shocking turn of events, Colombian national Mario Zapata Velez, 41, of Medellín, has pleaded guilty to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy connected with organized crime in the Republic of Colombia.

According to the indictment, Zapata and his co-conspirators, including Fabio de Jesus Yepes Sanchez, Miguel Colindres, and Juan Pablo Ariasgil, conspired to use threats to extort approximately $750,000 in drug debt from two cocaine traffickers based in Massachusetts.

Zapata and his alleged co-conspirator, Yepes, also conspired with Colindres and Ariasgil to obtain five kilograms of cocaine from the Massachusetts traffickers, sell those kilograms, and then repatriate the drug proceeds to Colombia, in partial satisfaction of the outstanding drug debt.

On April 24, 2023, Colindres was sentenced to 51 months in prison and three years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty to his role in the cocaine conspiracy. In May 2022, Ariasgil was sentenced to four years in prison and four years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty to his role in the cocaine conspiracy.

The charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million.

Zapata’s sentencing is scheduled for July 25, 2023, before U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, with valuable assistance provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, and the Government of Colombia.

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