Two from Rhode Island sentenced to prison after importing 37 kilograms of cocaine into southern New England

A leader of a long-running drug trafficking organization that used the U.S. Postal Service to import 37 kilograms of cocaine into Rhode Island from Puerto Rico, along with a co-conspirator who provided addresses for mailing and retrieved many of the packages of cocaine, were sentenced to federal prison today, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Arcadio Torres, 41, of North Smithfield, sentenced Wednesday to eight years in federal prison, previously admitted to a federal judge that, as a leader of the DTO, he worked with family members and co-conspirators to have kilogram quantity parcels of cocaine regularly shipped to addresses in Rhode Island; that he tracked many of the shipments and watched as they were delivered and retrieved by other members of the DTO; and that he coordinated with co-conspirators to store the cocaine for him.

Nelson Carvalho, 48, of Cranston, sentenced Wednesday to more than seven years in federal prison, previously admitted to the court that he provided members of the DTO with residential and business addresses in Rhode Island as destinations for U.S. Priority mail parcels, each containing approximately one kilogram of cocaine. Carvalho also discussed arrival dates and retrieval of the parcels with co-conspirators; retrieved the packages from locations throughout Rhode Island, including his work address; transported the cocaine to co-conspirators in Rhode Island; and performed other functions as needed to facilitate the operations of the DTO.

At least eleven of the parcels were shipped to Women and Infants Hospital, where Carvalho was employed as a mail courier, addressed to names provided to the DTO by the defendant. Carvalho retrieved the packages from the Hospital mail and provided them to other co-conspirators.

Torres, who pleaded guilty on June 30, 2022, to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 96 months in federal prison to be followed by 4 years of federal supervised release.

Carvalho, who pleaded guilty on August 1, 2022, to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 90 months in federal prison to be followed by 4 years of federal supervised release.

Co-conspirators George Mojica, 42, and Angel Delgado, 25, of Central Falls, previously admitted to a federal judge that they participated in the conspiracy and performed various functions to assist the DTO. Mojica and Delgado were sentenced in May 2022 to serve seven years and five years in federal prison, respectively.