A Philadelphia man, Iran Soler, has been handed a 50-month prison stint for his role in a cocaine distribution network that smuggled more than 100 kilograms of the drug into the city, as well as parts of southern New Jersey. U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger declared Soler's sentence following his guilty plea to a drug trafficking conspiracy charge.
The 44-year-old made numerous flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from March 2019 to August 2020 alongside his co-conspirators to make hefty cocaine purchases from suppliers in the area, reported in a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. They utilized overnight delivery services to transport the narcotics to various addresses across Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. His accomplice, Jose Gonzalez, has also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing on April 29.
During the sentencing in Camden federal court, U.S. District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn ordered Soler to a subsequent five years of supervised release post-imprisonment. The convict had reportedly pleaded guilty to the charge involving no less than five kilograms of cocaine as part of the operation.
Credit for the successful investigation that led to Soler's sentencing goes to a myriad of agencies including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the New Jersey State Police, and the Philadelphia Police Department. The scale of the cocaine trafficking conspiracy was revealed through their collaborative efforts.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick C. Askin represented the government in this case. The law enforcement collaboration was under the supervision of several chiefs and inspectors, including Postal Inspection Service's Christopher A. Nielsen, the FBI's James E. Dennehy in Newark, and Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel of Philadelphia, among others.
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