Jorge Daniel Estrada, Heroin Trafficking, Rhode Island 2012

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Table of Contents

Record Heroin Seizure Nets Life Sentences for Duo

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In a major blow to Rhode Island’s illicit heroin trade, Jorge Daniel Estrada and Angel Feliz are facing up to life in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges.

The charges stem from a record-breaking heroin seizure of 19 kilos, valued at approximately $4.5 million, made in October 2012. The massive haul was the result of a joint investigation between Providence Police and the DEA’s Drug Task Force.

Estrada, of Providence, and Feliz, of Dorchester, Mass., were arrested in October 2012 after a sting operation set up by law enforcement. The operation involved a cooperating individual who agreed to arrange controlled deliveries of heroin. The two deliveries took place on October 23, 2012, and the following afternoon, witnessed by law enforcement agents and officers from the DEA and Providence Police.

Later that day, the cooperating individual received a call and was provided with a location to meet with Feliz, who was traveling from Massachusetts to pick up the two kilos of heroin. Law enforcement provided the individual with two fake kilos of heroin, and the delivery was made.

A search of Estrada’s Providence residence resulted in the seizure of an additional 17 kilos of heroin. Estrada pleaded guilty to one count of possessing with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, punishable by a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Feliz pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, also punishable by a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Hebert. Estrada is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi on April 18, 2013. Feliz is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2013.