Niagara Falls Woman Sentenced For Her Role In Cocaine Conspiracy

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Katherine Dejesus-Gonzalez, 36, of Niagara Falls, NY, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Adler, who handled the case, stated that between October 2017 and July 19, 2018, the defendant conspired with Edgar Joel Jimenez-Rodriguez, Jose Garcia-Santiago, and others to sell cocaine. On May 26, 2018, the New York State Police conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle being driven by co-conspirator Jose Garcia-Santiago. Dejesus-Gonzalez was a passenger. Troopers seized five kilograms of cocaine from the vehicle.

In addition, investigators intercepted conversations involving the defendant facilitating drug trafficking activities with her co-conspirators. In September 2017, the U.S. Postal Service intercepted packages arriving from Puerto Rico which were addressed to various residences in Niagara Falls. Postal inspectors seized approximately five kilograms of cocaine that were intended for the defendant and her co-conspirators.  One of the packages was addressed directly to the defendant’s home address. Another was addressed to the home of Garcia-Santiago. 
Edgar Joel Jimenez-Rodriguez and Jose Garcia-Santiago were previously convicted.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division; the Niagara Falls Police Department, under the direction of Superintendent Thomas Licata; and the New York State Police Community Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET), under the direction of Lieutenant Kevin Reyes and Major Mary Clark.