United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FRESNO, Calif. - Canadian citizen Armitdeep Mann, 33, of Toronto, Canada, was sentenced today to five years and one month in prison by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.

According to court documents, between July 1, 2012, and September 21, 2012, Mann and others conspired to smuggle cocaine into Canada by concealing it in legitimate cargo. On September 21, 2012, agents followed one of Mann’s co-conspirators as he went to Los Angeles to deliver eight kilograms of cocaine. Law enforcement seized that cocaine and arrested Mann and additional defendants. A search warrant at the Los Angeles residence where authorities believed the eight kilograms of cocaine had been stored resulted in the seizure of an additional 40 kilograms of cocaine. Mann has been held in custody without bail since his arrest.

On April 7, 2014, co-conspirator Manjot Nanner, 32, of Fresno, was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison, and on June 2, 2014, co-conspirator Vincent Rivaz-Felix, 29, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for the conspiracy.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Fresno Police Department, and the Fontana and Vernon Police Departments. Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Rooney prosecuted the case.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF). The OCDETF Program was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.