Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Erin Keegan, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced the conviction of NELSON OLIVO on charges of narcotics trafficking conspiracy. The defendant was found guilty yesterday following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni. OLIVO will be sentenced on June 27, 2024, by Judge Caproni.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Yesterday, a unanimous jury found that Nelson Olivo agreed with others to sell large amounts of deadly drugs, including fentanyl, in New York City. Olivo posed a danger to the community through his involvement in the distribution of dangerous narcotics, including fentanyl—the deadliest drug our nation has ever encountered. Together with our law enforcement partners, this Office will continue to be hyper-focused on combatting the fentanyl crisis by holding narcotics traffickers, such as Nelson Olivo, responsible for their actions.”
HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan said: “Nelson Olivo’s conviction signals the public’s understanding not only of the brazen severity of his crimes, but also of the continued, deadly impacts of the drug epidemic, especially fentanyl, on our country. HSI, in conjunction with our law enforcement partners, seized over 5,500 pounds of fentanyl in the first two months of fiscal year 2024 – with more than 3,000 pounds seized in November alone. I commend HSI New York and our law enforcement partners within the El Dorado Task Force for their continued efforts toward securing justice and, in turn, saving lives.”
According to the Indictment, public filings, and evidence presented at trial:
From about July 2022 to about October 12, 2022, OLIVO operated a stash house in the Bronx where he worked with co-conspirators to distribute wholesale and retail quantities of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, as well as powder cocaine, crack cocaine, and other narcotics.
On October 12, 2022, a search warrant was executed on OLIVO’s Bronx stash house after he and his co-conspirators were seen attempting to empty the house of evidence of their drug conspiracy. The search of the house and cars outside it recovered approximately one kilogram of pills containing methamphetamine; fentanyl in pill and powder form, including fentanyl mixed with the dangerous animal tranquilizer xylazine; additional narcotics; two kilo presses and a kilo stamp; and other narcotics paraphernalia and ammunition. At trial, text messages, photographs, video evidence, and wiretap recordings of the defendant’s phone, established that the defendant had returned to the U.S. in June 2022 to set up the stash house after having spent the prior 18 months in Colombia, where he participated in manufacturing large amounts of cocaine in a jungle laboratory. Below are photographs of some of the evidence recovered in this case.
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OLIVO, 46, of New York, New York, was convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the El Dorado Task Force, which is comprised of law enforcement officers from HSI, the New York State Police, the Inspector General for the New York City Housing Authority, the Nassau County Sherriff’s Department, and the Fort Lee Police Department.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jane Y. Chong and Matthew R. Shahabian are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialists Owen Foley and Jayda Foote.