Stevens Morales Rivera, Drug Trafficking, Rhode Island 2021

A local man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for drug trafficking, firearm, and immigration charges in a case investigated by the Rhode Island DEA Drug Task Force.

Stevens Morales Rivera, 47, a Dominican national, was arrested in October 2021 following a Project Safe Neighborhoods investigation into his renewed drug trafficking activity. The investigation revealed that Rivera had been previously deported in 2004 following a conviction for drug trafficking charges.

At the time of his arrest, Rivera was found to have 13 pounds of cocaine, 2.2 pounds of fentanyl, a 25 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a pill press, and $8,995 in cash in his residence. The drugs and firearm were located unsecured and easily accessible in a bedroom adjacent to a room where two small children were present when law enforcement entered the residence.

Rivera pleaded guilty on April 7, 2022, to possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and illegal reentry to the United States following removal. He was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 120 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of federal supervised release.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Michael Seaman.

The Rhode Island DEA Drug Task Force is comprised of personnel from the DEA, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Rhode Island Attorney General's Office Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Rhode Island State Police, and multiple local police departments.

Project Safe Neighborhoods is the centerpiece of the government's violent crime reduction efforts, focusing enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partnering with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ri/pr/career-offender-us-illegally-sentenced-10-years-federal-prison-drug-trafficking-firearm