Retired NYPD Officer Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 15 Years in Prison for Narcotics Conspiracy

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Alfredo Rivera, a retired New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 15 years in prison for participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm in connection with the conspiracy. Rivera was convicted on February 3, 2012 following a four-day jury trial before United States District Judge Katherine B. Forrest, who also imposed today’s sentence.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “In addition to breaking the law, Alfredo Rivera betrayed the public, his former department, and his former fellow officers. The message of today’s sentence is that those who abuse their positions of public trust for their own personal gain will be punished. ”

According to the indictment and the evidence at Rivera’s trial:

During a January 12, 2010 meeting, Rafael Jimenez, Rivera’s co-defendant and a former NYPD auxiliary police sergeant, told a government informant (the “first informant”) that he would use an armed retired NYPD officer to assist in the transportation of cocaine. In February 2010, Rivera and Jimenez met with a second government informant (the “second informant”), whom Rivera and Jimenez believed to be a large-scale cocaine distributor. During this meeting, Rivera—who was armed with an NYPD-issued 9mm handgun—told the second informant that if stopped by the police, “I just show my I.D. and my shield...they always say, ‘Get out of here.’” Rivera and Jimenez subsequently agreed to transport a 10 kilogram load of cocaine from a warehouse in Long Island to a narcotics customer in the Bronx, New York. Rivera also agreed to be paid $1,200 per kilogram of cocaine transported, for a total of $12,000 for 10 kilograms of cocaine, and to use a portion of that money to pay Jimenez for his role in the transaction. On March 23, 2010, still armed with the handgun, Rivera drove to a warehouse in Long Island, where he was observed by law enforcement agents picking up a duffel bag that contained approximately 10 kilograms of a white substance consistent with the appearance of cocaine. Rivera then drove the bag from the warehouse to the Bronx.

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In addition to the prison term, Judge Forrest sentenced Rivera, 53, of the Bronx, New York, to five years of supervised release, $12,000 in forfeiture, and a $100 special assessment fee.

Rafael Jimenez, 58, of New York, New York, was sentenced by Judge Forrest on April 3, 2012 to 127 months in prison for participating in the conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Jimenez previously pled guilty in November 2011.

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Brian A. Jacobs and Howard S. Master are in charge of the prosecution.