18 Alleged Drug Dealers Indicted By Feds For Distribution Of Heroin In Wisconsin And Chicago

The drug distribution suspects were arrested in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois, according to feds.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

June 15, 2016

Milwaukee, WI - On Tuesday, Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced in a press released the unsealing of a federal indictment charging eighteen defendants with conspiring to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin.  If convicted, the defendants face a maximum term of life imprisonment, as well as a mandatory minimum term of ten years.

The defendants charged in the indictment are:

● Edgardo Q. Rivera, age, 45

● Edgar Velez, age 51

● Carlos David, age 47

● Eddie Rivera, age 34

● Justo Capeles, age 45

● Jose E. Deanda, age 34

● Omayra Rivera, age 40

● Edgardo S. Rivera, age 27

● Jorge Fontanez-Masso, age 28

● Jose Santos-Marti, age 23

● Isaac Elena-Leonardo, age 25

● Ramon Elizondo, age 44

● Brenda Fontanez-Masso, age 43

● Carlos Velasquez, age 44

● Luis Diaz, age 23

● Emerito Quiles, age 64

● Jason Rivera, age 35

● Jaime M. Vega, age 19

Federal, state, and local law enforcement agents and officers on Tuesday arrested seventeen of these defendants, who had been residing in Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Chicago.  The other defendant named in the indictment, Eddie Rivera, is still at large.
The agents and officers also executed a number of search warrants in the Milwaukee and Kenosha areas, resulting in the seizure of distribution quantities of heroin and cocaine; sixteen firearms; and approximately $150,000 in cash.
United States Attorney Haanstad said, "There is a heroin epidemic in Milwaukee and the surrounding areas.  The dangers of heroin trafficking and abuse have been escalating and present an urgent public safety and public health crisis.  Investigations and prosecutions like this one are an integral component of the collaborative effort among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to deal with that public safety and public health crisis."           
The suspects got heroin, cocaine and marijuana from Chicago, Philadelphia, Florida and Puerto Rico, according to the federal indictment.