A New York man is headed to prison for his role in a scheme to transport more than 20 kilograms of cocaine from California to New Jersey.
Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say 40-year-old Robert Crawford, of Long Island City, received a 10-year sentence this week. He also will have to serve five of supervised release once he's freed from prison.
Crawford and two New Jersey men pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
The three admitted conspiring from January 2011 through March 2014 to buy illegal drugs for distribution in New Jersey. In October 2012, authorities say they gave a courier $549,950 to buy roughly 20 kilograms of cocaine in California. The courier would then transport the cocaine back to New Jersey for distribution.
The currency, though, was ultimately seized by law enforcement officers in California.
Crawford's co-conspirators — 48-year-old Melvin Feliz, of Englewood Cliffs, and 42-year-old Irving Olivero-Pena, of Edgewater — are still awaiting sentencing.
