Federal officials said a Philadelphia man was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for his role in a drug distribution conspiracy connected to the seizure of fentanyl and heroin at a New Jersey rest stop last year, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Officials say, Denny Diaz, 30, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and heroin. Judge Sheridan imposed the sentence today.
According to the documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
Diaz’s co-defendant, Luis Aponte, 49, of Riverside, California, drove a tractor-trailer truck to a rest stop in Bloomsbury, New Jersey, on March 1, 2019.
The next day, he met Diaz in a car and gave Diaz approximately six kilograms of fentanyl. Both men were arrested shortly thereafter. Law enforcement officers searched Aponte’s truck at the rest stop and found an additional two kilograms of fentanyl and 11 kilograms of heroin inside.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Diaz to three years of supervised release.
Aponte previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 6, 2020.