COLORADO MAN IS SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR ARRANGING A SHIPMENT OF 5.5 KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE TO RI

A federal judge today sentenced Fernando Gonzalez-Ramirez, 34, of Aurora, Colorado, to 20 years in federal prison for arranging to ship 5.5 kilograms of cocaine to Rhode Island in January 2006.  Two other defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles in the transaction – one for driving the cocaine to Rhode Island, and the other for negotiating the deal from a liquor store in Providence.

United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced the sentence, which Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi imposed in U.S. District Court, Providence.  Because Gonzales-Ramirez was convicted of trafficking in more than five kilograms of cocaine, and had a prior drug-trafficking conviction, the 20-year sentence was mandatory under federal law. 

In February, a federal jury found Gonzales-Ramirez guilty of conspiracy to traffic in five kilograms or more of cocaine and a related charge.  During the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary E. Rogers presented evidence that, in January 2006, agents with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA) monitored conversations between Gonzalez-Ramirez, in Colorado, and Estroredarcio Bernard, at California Liquors, on Union Avenue in Providence.  The two men discussed the price of cocaine that Gonzalez-Ramirez wanted to sell to Bernard, who is also known as Beligue.  They agreed on $19,000 per kilogram, and Gonzalez-Ramirez said a shipment would arrive in Providence within a few days.

On January 30, 2006, agents saw a car with Colorado license plates outside California Liquors, and subsequently followed it to a warehouse on Hathaway Street.  Drug Enforcement Administration agents later that day searched the warehouse and found 11 packages, each containing ½ kilogram of cocaine, which proved to be 87% pure.  

Agents that day arrested Bernard and the driver of the Colorado car, Adalberto Bejarano-Gonzalez, who is a cousin of Gonzalez-Ramirez.  After additional investigation, federal agents arrested Gonzalez-Ramirez in Colorado in August. 

Bejarano-Gonzalez, the driver of the Colorado car, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possessing with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, and, in January, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ernest C. Torres sentenced him to 37 months in prison.  Bernard, the operator of California Liquors, pleaded guilty in January to the same charges and is detained awaiting sentencing, scheduled for June 25. 

As part of the investigation, federal agents also seized nearly $100,000 in cash – $9,300 from a home in West Warwick, $70,500 from California Liquors, and $20,000 that Bernard’s wife turned over to the FBI.  She was not charged. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rhode Island State Police lead the HIDTA Task Force, and detectives from several Rhode Island police departments are assigned to it.

Contact: 401-709-5032 Thomas.connell@usdoj.gov

Find news and information on the U.S. Attorney’s Web site:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ri/