Rhode Island man sentenced to prison for role in drug trafficking conspiracy involving kidnapping of U.S. Postal Worker

PROVIDENCE, RI – A Providence man who previously admitted to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy, which involved a plot to kidnap a U.S Postal Service employee while members of the conspiracy searched for missing cocaine that had been shipped from Puerto Rico, was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary Cunha.

36-year-old Irving Medina pleaded guilty on March 14, 2024, to a charge of conspiracy to possess 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute. He was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., to 70 months of incarceration to be followed by four years of federal supervised release.

In addition to admitting to his role in the conspiracy, Irving Medina admitted that co-conspirators abducted a USPS employee in an effort to locate the drugs. Medina conducted surveillance outside of a Pawtucket post office on May 28, 2021, and the next day outside of a mailman’s home.  As alleged in court documents, on June 1, 2021, members of the conspiracy kidnapped the letter carrier at gunpoint and drove him to his home, interrogating him about the missing cocaine. After it became obvious that the mailman knew nothing about the missing drugs, and after the men learned that the letter carrier did not have a key with him to allow them to enter his locked home to search for cocaine, the kidnappers returned the mailman to an area near where his postal truck was parked.

According to information presented to the court, three packages, each containing approximately one kilogram of cocaine, were seized by law enforcement. On August 31, 2021, law enforcement executed a court-authorized search of Irving Medina’s residence, and seized numerous items associated with drug trafficking, including $800 in cash, fifty bags filled with fentanyl, three bags filled with cocaine base, and a quantity of cutting agent.

The matter was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of Pawtucket Police, Rhode Island State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force, Rhode Island State Police K-9 Unit, Rhode Island High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, and the United States Marshals Service.