United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEWARK, N.J. -- An Illinois man today admitted conspiring to transport heroin and cocaine to New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Daniel Gonzalez Maldonado, 25, of Carpentersville, Ill., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and 500 grams or more of cocaine.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On June 6, 2019, Maldonado was paid approximately $1,000 to drive a conspirator and a quantity of narcotics from Illinois to the East Coast. Maldonado allowed the conspirator to store approximately one kilogram of cocaine and approximately two kilograms of heroin in a hotel room in Norristown, Penn., that was reserved in Maldonado’s name. The investigation revealed that at least one of these kilograms of narcotics would have been distributed in New Jersey.

The count to which Maldonado pleaded guilty carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of up to $10 million. Sentencing is scheduled for April 23, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited members of the New York Strike Force for the arrest. The New York Strike Force is a crime-fighting unit comprising federal, state and local law enforcement agencies supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

The Strike Force is housed at the DEA’s New York Division and includes agents and officers of the DEA; the New York City Police Department; the New York State Police; Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations; the U. S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Secret Service; the U.S. Marshals Service; New York National Guard; the Clarkstown Police Department; U.S. Coast Guard; Port Washington Police Department; and New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force/Narcotics Unit in Newark.

# # #