SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Johan Rijo-Richiez, age 30, and a citizen of the Dominican Republic residing in Utica, New York, was sentenced today to 35 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute cocaine, illegal firearm possession, and three identity theft-related convictions.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The sentence followed Rijo-Richiez’s December 20, 2016 guilty pleas to (1) conspiracy to distribute cocaine, (2) possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, (3) aggravated identity theft, (4) possession of a false identification document, and (5) falsely representing a Social Security Number to be one’s own when it was not.
As part of his guilty pleas, Rijo-Richiez admitted that: In early 2016, he conspired with codefendant Chanel Garcia-Enrique – sentenced on April 12, 2017 to 51 months’ imprisonment – and others to distribute between 200 and 300 grams of cocaine in the Utica area. At the time of his arrest on April 4, 2016, a 12-gauge shotgun was found in Rijo-Richiez’s residence. When questioned by law enforcement officers after his arrest, Rijo-Richiez falsely represented that his name was “Juan Ortiz Rodriguez,” provided a Social Security Number assigned to “Juan Ortiz Rodriguez,” and represented he was a United States citizen, born in Puerto Rico, when in fact he was a citizen of the Dominican Republic and was in the United States illegally.
Rijo-Richiez also possessed, at the time of his arrest, false identification documents, including a Puerto Rico driver’s license and birth certificate, all in the name of “Juan Ortiz Rodriguez” and bearing his photograph. In his guilty plea, Rijo-Richiez also acknowledged he knew the identity he stole was that of a real person.
Following his term of imprisonment, the Department of Homeland Security will place Rijo-Richiez into removal proceedings.
This case was investigated by the DEA, the Oneida County Drug Task Force, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Central New York Drug Enforcement Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl G. Eurenius and Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone, who also serves as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.