SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Shakespeare Cruz, age 48, of New York City, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine in the Northern District of New York, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division, and New York State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen.
As part of his previously entered guilty plea, Cruz admitted that he distributed multiple kilograms of heroin and cocaine from 2014 through January 2019. Cruz further admitted that he and his co-conspirators arranged for the drugs to be transported from New York City to Lewis County, New York, where the drugs were then re-distributed to others.
Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby also sentenced Cruz to a 5-year term of supervised release to begin after Cruz serves his term of imprisonment and ordered Cruz to pay a forfeiture judgment in the amount of $200,000, representing the proceeds of his drug trafficking offense.
This case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), the New York State Police, the United States Marshals Service, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Lewis County District Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicolas Commandeur, Adrian LaRochelle, and Andrew Beaty.