A Providence man was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for his role in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy that involved the kidnapping of a U.S. Postal Service employee.
Irving Medina, 36, of Providence, was sentenced to 70 months of incarceration to be followed by four years of federal supervised release. Medina previously pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute.
The investigation revealed that Medina and his co-conspirators were searching for missing cocaine that had been shipped from Puerto Rico. They allegedly kidnapped a USPS employee in an effort to locate the missing drugs. On June 1, 2021, members of the conspiracy kidnapped the letter carrier at gunpoint and drove him to his home, interrogating him about the missing cocaine.
According to court documents, after it became obvious that the mailman knew nothing about the missing drugs, and after the men learned that the letter carrier did not have a key with him to allow them to enter his locked home to search for cocaine, the kidnappers returned the mailman to an area near where his postal truck was parked.
Law enforcement seized three packages, each containing approximately one kilogram of cocaine, as part of the investigation. On August 31, 2021, law enforcement executed a court-authorized search of Medina’s residence, and seized numerous items associated with drug trafficking, including $800 in cash, fifty bags filled with fentanyl, three bags filled with cocaine base, and a quantity of cutting agent.
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of Pawtucket Police, Rhode Island State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force, Rhode Island State Police K-9 Unit, Rhode Island High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, and the United States Marshals Service.
Related Federal Cases
- Providence Man Sentenced for Kidnapping USPS Employee in Cocaine Trafficking Plot · Puerto Rico
- Luis Lopez Gets 15 Years for Cocaine, Fentanyl Empire · Massachusetts
- Cocaine Kingpin Jesus Martinez Sentenced to Decade in RI Prison · Puerto Rico
- Stoughton Drug Kingpin Gets Over 11 Years for Cocaine Smuggling and Relief Fraud · Massachusetts
- Identity Doc Supplier Pleads Guilty in ID Trafficking Scheme · Puerto Rico
Key Facts
- State: Rhode Island
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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