A Providence resident, Irving Medina, entered a guilty plea in federal court on Thursday for his involvement in a conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute. The plea also included admitting to participating in the kidnapping of a U.S. Postal Service worker at gunpoint, under the pretext of missing cocaine from a delivered package.
United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha announced that Medina participated in surveillance activities to assist co-conspirators in retrieving packages containing cocaine mailed from Puerto Rico. The contents of these packages, totaling over 3 kilograms of cocaine, were confirmed by forensic analysis.
Medina also confessed to aiding in the surveillance of a USPS post office and a USPS mailman’s home on separate occasions in May 2021, as part of the conspiracy. Law enforcement seized incriminating evidence, including cash, fentanyl, cocaine base, and a cutting agent, during a search of Medina’s residence on August 31, 2021.
Scheduled for sentencing on June 13, 2024, Medina’s fate will be determined by a federal district judge, considering sentencing guidelines and statutory factors.