A Puerto Rico man has been sentenced in a New Hampshire federal court for his involvement in drug trafficking. Acting U.S. Attorney Jay Mccormack announced that Lewistone Baez Miranda, 50, received a sentence of 78 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. Earlier this year, Baez Miranda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine, having been indicted alongside five co-defendants in December 2023.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jay Mccormack stated, "The defendant will spend the next six years in federal prison because he chose to use the United States Postal Service to facilitate his drug trafficking enterprise by shipping multiple kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New Hampshire." He further emphasized the efforts of the United States Postal Inspectors in preventing drug trafficking through mail services.
Inspector Ketty Larco-Ward from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, commented on the case: "Illegal narcotics have no place in our neighborhoods or in the U.S. Mail. Mr. Miranda’s actions endangered not only communities in New Hampshire, but he also endangered the U.S. Postal Service employees who move and deliver the mail every day."
Court documents revealed that Baez Miranda led a drug trafficking organization that transported cocaine from Puerto Rico to Manchester, New Hampshire. His son facilitated these shipments using fictitious information to send packages via the United States Postal Service at Baez Miranda's direction. The cocaine was concealed within children's games and sent in bundles weighing between 500 grams and 1,000 grams.
Baez Miranda also coordinated with co-conspirators to collect these packages upon arrival in Manchester and sent suspected drug proceeds back to his son, including a parcel containing $11,000. From September 2020 to December 2021, over 5.6 kilograms of cocaine were shipped from Puerto Rico for redistribution.
The investigation was led by the United States Postal Inspection Service with support from the Manchester Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Gingrande and Cesar Vega are handling prosecution duties.