A 35-year-old Middletown man was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision on Thursday, Oct. 1, after investigators found nearly 9,000 glassine envelopes of fentanyl, more than four ounces of cocaine packaged for sale, and more than $57,000 in cash stashed at his Orange County home. Christian Mojica pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in connection with the haul.
Months-Long Investigation Led to Mojica's Door
The sentencing, handed down in Orange County Court, was announced on Tuesday, Oct. 6, by the Orange County District Attorney's Office, according to Daily Voice. The case traces back to a months-long Middletown Police investigation into narcotics sales in and around the city that began in early 2024, the outlet reports.
That investigation led police to execute search warrants at Mojica's Middletown home, two other locations, and his vehicles. Beyond the drugs and cash, officers also recovered digital scales, cellphones, and drug-packaging materials, per the same report — the kind of equipment typically associated with preparing narcotics for street-level sale rather than personal use.
Guilty Plea Comes With Steep Financial Losses
Mojica admitted to possessing more than four ounces of cocaine as part of his guilty plea to second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony under New York law. Under Penal Law 220.18, that charge covers knowingly and unlawfully possessing a controlled substance in the quantities described in the statute.
Beyond the prison term, Mojica forfeited $57,308 and two vehicles as part of his sentence, the Middletown drug bust report notes.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Orange County
Mojica's case isn't an isolated one for the county. Back in April, Orange County law-enforcement agencies announced the results of a separate nine-month investigation, dubbed Operation Slow Motion, that led to narcotics, firearms, and conspiracy charges against 17 people, according to Orange County Government.
That operation was considerably larger in scope, with investigators executing 13 search warrants across Orange County, New York City, and New Jersey. The seizures in that case included 15 kilograms of a substance believed to contain cocaine, almost a kilogram of suspected fentanyl, liquid PCP, suspected ecstasy pills, 16 illegally possessed firearms, a sawed-off shotgun, more than $250,000 in cash, and four vehicles, per the county's announcement.
Fentanyl's spread through the illegal drug supply has been a consistent driver of overdose deaths in New York in recent years, according to a report from the New York State Comptroller's Office, which notes that traffickers have increasingly mixed the cheap, potent synthetic opioid into other illegal drugs. For Middletown, Mojica's sentencing closes out a case that started with a quiet investigation and ended with nearly 9,000 packets of fentanyl off the street.
