DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of New York

For Immediate Release

Friday, January 22, 2016
William J. Hochul Jr.
, United States Attorney
Contact: Barbara Burns

Three Defendants Plead Guilty to Role in Major Heroin Ring with Links to Philadelphia

ROCHESTER, N.Y. U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Pedro Juan Rivera Reyes, 31, Jean Carlos Alvarez Dejesus, 29, both of Rochester, NY, and Edwin Montanez, 27, of the Bronx, NY, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci to conspiracy to distribute heroin. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, a fine of $5,000,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas E. Gregory, who is handling the case, stated that in 2015 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Rochester Police Department conducted a multiagency investigation into a significant Philadelphia based heroin trafficking organization. The organization regularly supplied large quantities of heroin to a Rochester distribution network. The investigation, which included the use of court approved eavesdropping warrants(wiretaps), revealed that members of the Philadelphia organization regularly provided quantities of heroin for resale on the streets of Rochester, using several cars that were equipped with hidden compartments. The Philadelphia organization provided heroin that was prepackaged, stamped and ready for immediate distribution once it arrived.

In May 2015, 11 members of the organization were arrested and charged by criminal complaint in connection with the investigation. To date, five defendants have been convicted. The pleas are the culmination of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen, the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Sandra Doorley, the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (GRANET), the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Delano A. Reid, New York Field Division, and the Pennsylvania State Police.

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New York Field Division