New Jersey man sentenced for role in drug conspiracy

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Blackwood, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for being the supplier in a drug conspiracy that stretched from New Jersey to Maryland to West Virginia.

Aquilino Javier Lorenzo-Rivera, 39, previously pled guilty to distribution of fentanyl. Lorenzo-Rivera admitted that he distributed nearly 34 grams of acetyl fentanyl (synthetic fentanyl) and more than 241 grams of a fentanyl mixture.

During today’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh heard about Lorenzo-Rivera’s travels to and from the Eastern Panhandle to supply drugs to another dealer. During the investigation, officers found nearly 200 grams of fentanyl and nearly 300 grams of cocaine base that Lorenzo-Rivera had transported to a dealer in Harpers Ferry, as well as more than $12,000 in cash seized from a traffic stop. The judge discussed Lorenzo-Rivera’s continuous pattern of criminal conduct, which includes 14 felony convictions.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (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.