Four individuals from Central Florida were sentenced on March 4 to a combined 32 years and three months in federal prison for their roles in conspiring to distribute more than 89 kilograms of cocaine in the Orlando region following a joint Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation with the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Each previously pleaded guilty.
The conspirators also forfeited $464,031 in cash seizures in the case.
Israel Miranda, 36, of Kissimmee, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Abiezer Laboy Lozada, 36, of Orlando, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Jorge Antonio Gonzalez de la Fuente, 31, of St. Cloud, was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison. Carlos Antonio Garcia Garcia, 35, of Kissimmee, was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
According to the plea agreements, the Drug Enforcement Administration identified a group of individuals working to distribute kilogram quantities of cocaine and the proceeds of those sales during 2022.
On May 1, 2023, the DEA surveilled Miranda as he distributed drugs to Laboy Lozada in a parking lot. In this and similar meetings during the conspiracy, Laboy Lozada admitted to obtaining 20-30 kilograms of cocaine from Miranda.
On October 4, 2023, Miranda delivered a shoe box to Gonzalez de la Fuente, who delivered it to Garcia Garcia. When law enforcement stopped Garcia Garcia’s vehicle, he was found to be carrying that same box containing a kilogram of cocaine.
Over the course of the conspiracy, Gonzalez de la Fuente met with his conspirators two or three times a month and was involved in the distribution of 15-50 kilograms of cocaine.
Gonzalez de la Fuente continued to engage in drug distribution after being charged federally and was detained when this was discovered.
On October 13, 2023, Miranda delivered drug proceeds to an individual who was found to be transporting $262,257 in a brown paper bag.
At the same time, Miranda texted a conspirator an image of the stacks of bills he was distributing with the message “should be 110k.”
Similar enforcement actions resulted in the seizure of $51,989 from Miranda on November 7, 2023, and $149,785 from Miranda on March 6, 2024.
Over the course of the conspiracy, Miranda distributed drugs or drug proceeds, reflecting the distribution of more than 89 kilograms of cocaine.
