Leader of the Rodriguez Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 10 Years for Drug Conspiracy and Money Laundering

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK –Ivan Rodriguez, Senior, age 48, of Utica, New York, was sentenced yesterday to serve 121 months in federal prison for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl,  distribution of more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and money laundering, announced United States Attorney Carla Freedman, Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division and Thomas Fattorusso, Executive Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), New York Field Office. 

After a lengthy investigation, Rodriguez, Sr. was identified as the head of a drug trafficking organization that distributed fentanyl in and around Oneida County from May 2020 to October 2021.  On September 20, 2021, the defendant and his son, Ivan Rodriguez, Jr. arranged for co-conspirator Eric Ares to drive to a source of supply in New York City to pick up fentanyl for redistribution in the Utica area. Law enforcement officers interdicted the vehicle en route back to Utica and recovered three kilograms of fentanyl from a speaker inside of Ares’ rental car.  During the conspiracy, Rodriguez, Sr. also provided cash obtained from drug trafficking to a straw purchaser to buy cars, including a BMW.

Ivan Rodriguez, Jr. will be sentenced on May 2, 2024.  Eric Ares will be sentenced April 11, 2024.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the New York State Police, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office, the Utica Police Department, the Syracuse Police Department, the Rome Police Department, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, New York Army National Guard Counter Drug Program, the Yorkville Village Police Department, and the Whitesboro Village Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Thomson.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.