ALBUQUERQUE – Edward Lewis, 49, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on a heroin trafficking charge.
Lewis was arrested on June 23, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with a heroin trafficking offense after the DEA seized approximately 523.50 grams of heroin from him during an interdiction investigation at the Greyhound Bus Station in Albuquerque. The heroin was concealed in a bundle inside of Lewis’ pants. According to the complaint, Lewis was to be paid to transport the heroin from Los Angeles, Calif., to New York, N.Y. Lewis was subsequently indicted on July 12, 2016, and charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute.
On Jan. 30, 2017, Lewis pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, and admitted that on June 23, 2016, he possessed heroin with the intention of distributing it to others.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Cowen as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.
The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.