A 65-year-old Queens man who spent years flying back and forth to California to stock a coast-to-coast cocaine pipeline has been hit with more than 22 years in federal prison. On May 29, 2026, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika sentenced Brahmananda Prasad to 275 months behind bars for running a trafficking operation that moved at least 956 kilograms of cocaine to the East Coast. The court also entered a Preliminary Order of Forfeiture for a personal money judgment of $2,495,500 tied to proceeds from the scheme.
Prosecutors say he bought multi-kilogram loads in California
According to a press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware, court documents show Prasad regularly flew from his Queens home to California, where he purchased multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, typically 20 to 24 kilograms per trip and, on some occasions, roughly 48 kilograms. Prosecutors say he had the drugs shipped back to New York by directing others to pose as representatives of what looked like a legitimate shipping company, then supplied multi-kilogram loads to sub-distributors in New York, Maryland and Delaware. Investigators ultimately linked at least 956 kilograms of cocaine to Prasad's operation.
Investigation relied on seizures, wiretaps and records analysis
Local coverage by WGMD reports that the probe pulled together drug seizures, surveillance, detailed reviews of flight and shipping records and a nearly four-month wiretap to build the case. WGMD notes investigators were able to trace shipments back to at least 2021, and that the 956-kilogram figure is about six times the volume tied to any other drug defendant recently prosecuted in the District of Delaware. That coverage adds the case was handled as part of a Homeland Security Task Force effort targeting transnational criminal organizations.
Prosecutors and agencies involved
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware says the prosecution team included Criminal Chief Carly A. Hudson, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Thurstlic-O'Neill and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer K. Welsh. Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and IRS-Criminal Investigation all took part in the case, according to the office. U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace is quoted as saying Prasad "made millions by pumping poison into several states," and the court issued a Preliminary Order of Forfeiture for a $2,495,500 personal money judgment in connection with Case No. 1:24-CR-34.
What it means locally
Prosecutors say Prasad's conviction and lengthy sentence take a major wholesale supplier out of street-level markets along the East Coast. WGMD's reporting emphasizes that even when a defendant operates out of a single New York borough, the supply chains and shipping tactics used can ripple far beyond local neighborhoods, helping explain why federal task forces so often end up driving these kinds of prosecutions.
