Detroit kingpin who smuggled fentanyl into US from Mexico gets 60 years in prison
A notorious Detroit drug dealer who smuggled cocaine and fentanyl into the U.S. from Mexico is going to prison for 60 years after a jury previously found him guilty of running a massive drug operation that peddled deadly drugs in the Saginaw area.
After the FBI arrested him, it found two kilograms of fentanyl in his home, or 1 million potentially lethal doses.
Ricardo Delgado II, 51, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Ludington, who oversaw his week-long trial that ended in June with the jury convicting him of multiple drug and weapons crimes. According to prosecutors, Delgado was heavily armed.
Following his arrest, the FBI seized two machine guns, 10 additional guns and two silencers from his home, along with $200,000 cash, 13 kilograms of cocaine and two kilograms of fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a dangerous and potent manmade opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
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In Delgado's case, the FBI learned during the course of its investigation that he was very protective of his stockpile of drugs, and if anyone stole from him there was a price to pay. For example, according to court records, wiretap evidence showed that when Delgado once learned that someone had stolen cocaine from one of his subordinates he ordered that subordinate to exact revenge.
According to wiretap evidence disclosed in court records:
"(The subordinate) explained to Delgado that he had just been robbed while attempting to sell a kilogram of what agents later learned was cocaine. In response, Delgado stated that they should immediately return to the house to shoot it up."
Delgado discussed this plan with another associate and coached the subordinate in cell phone calls on what to do when he arrived at the location of the drug robbery: The "youngster" was told to shoot up the house, retrieve the stolen cocaine and "give Delgado one of the individuals who had robbed him."
Unbeknownst to the drug dealers, however, the FBI was monitoring these calls and thwarted the mission to shoot up the house. That same night, officers arrested Delgado and four other associates.
“This defendant endangered countless individuals by trafficking in large quantities of deadly fentanyl and cocaine. He also sought to use violence to protect his trade in illicit drugs,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison stated in announcing his sentence, which, she said "should serve as a stark warning" to other drug dealers that the federal government "will zealously pursue those who seek to bring illegal drugs and violence into our community.”
Detroit's FBI chief Chyvoryea Gibson added: "Today's sentencing of Ricardo Delgado, a notorious drug trafficker, marks a critical milestone in our ongoing efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis and protect the public from its devastating effects."
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit fentanyl dealer Ricardo Delgado gets 60 years in prison
