Federal Cocaine Conspiracy Case in Providence, RI
Criminal Charges:
Man charged in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island for:
- Conspiracy to Distribute and to Possess with Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of Cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) and 846
City, State, County and Court:
Providence, Rhode Island, United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
Case Overview:
The FBI Safe Streets Task Force obtained and executed a number of search warrants and arrest warrants for 16 individuals following a long-term wiretap investigation into multi-level drug trafficking organization (DTO) that was operating in Providence, Rhode Island. Recordings revealed one of the suppliers to the organization. Authorities intercepted at least four separate, multi-kilogram drug transactions. They identified the supplier and indicted him with being part of a federal drug trafficking conspiracy in United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. He initially faced a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years or 120 months, if convicted of the originally indicted offense. The man retained Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer, John L. Calcagni III, to defend him in this matter.
Case Result: 78 months of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release.
Over time, Attorney Calcagni successfully negotiated a plea agreement on the man’s behalf that resulted in a reduction of his original charges, which effectively reduced his applicable mandatory minimum jail sentence to a term of 5 years or 60 months. After pleading guilty to the reduced charge, Attorney Calcagni focused his attention on sentencing preparation. The man had an Adjusted Offense Level of 31 under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Because he had 10 criminal history points, he qualified as a career offender and fell into Criminal History Category VI, resulting in an advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range of 188 – 235 months. However, Attorney Calcagni persuaded the Court to impose a sentence of 78 months, followed by 5 years of supervised release.