United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ALBANY, N.Y. – Edwin Rodriguez, aka “Chaka,” 31, of Amsterdam, N.Y., pled guilty today to possessing and intending to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration New York Division Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan, and City of Amsterdam Police Chief Gregory J. Culick.

On May 15, 2019, Rodriguez was the subject of a traffic stop in Amsterdam. In pleading guilty, he admitted that he was stopped while driving to meet a drug customer to whom he planned to sell 100 grams of heroin, and that he was driving with a suspended license.

As Amsterdam Police Officers were arresting Rodriguez for driving with a suspended license, a vacuum-sealed bag of powder fell out of his pant leg. The bag contained 100.3 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl.

Also on May 15, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Rodriguez’s Amsterdam residence. In the apartment’s kitchen, they found an empty bleach bottle, with a hidden compartment containing 1.78 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl, which Rodriguez intended to sell.

Rodriguez faces at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 4 years and up to life, when United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino sentences him on June 15, 2020. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

This case was investigated by the DEA and the Amsterdam Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.