Utica Man Sentenced for his Role in Major Fentanyl Conspiracy

UTICA, NEW YORK – Jose Morales, age 31, of Utica, was sentenced yesterday to serve 120-months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl,  and distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, announced United States Attorney Carla Freedman; Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division and Thomas Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), New York Field Office.  Morales was also ordered to serve a 5-year term of supervised release following his sentence of imprisonment, pay a $200 special assessment and pay a $37,245 money judgment representing proceeds from the distribution of drugs. 

As part of his previous guilty plea, Morales admitted that from May 2020 through October 2021, he acquired quantities of fentanyl from co-conspirators in the Rodriguez Drug Trafficking Organization (Rodriguez DTO), which he then re-distributed to others in the Utica, New York area.  Morales admitted that during his participation in the conspiracy, the Rodriguez DTO distributed over 400 grams of fentanyl. 

Morales was one of nine defendants charged in the Rodriguez DTO. Seven other defendants pled guilty and were previously sentenced:

• Ivan Rodriguez, Sr., the head of the Rodriguez DTO, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl and money laundering and was sentenced to 121 months incarceration.
• Eric Ares pled guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 120 months incarceration. 
• Ivan Rodriguez, Jr. pled guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 120 months incarceration.
• Jose Aponte pled guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 40 months incarceration.
• Angel Calderon Ortiz pled guilty to conspiring distribute fentanyl and one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 60 months incarceration.
• Edgar Tejada pled guilty to possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and was sentenced to 72 months incarceration.
• Harry Rodriguez pled guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and was sentenced to 84 months incarceration.

On June 12, 2024, Bernabe Lopez, the last remaining defendant in the Rodriguez DTO, is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Utica.  Lopez previously pled guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl, and distribution of fentanyl.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), the New York State Police, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office, the Utica Police Department, the Syracuse Police Department, the Rome Police Department,  the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, New York Army National Guard Counter Drug Program, the Yorkville Police Department, and the Whitesboro Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Thomson.