A man was sentenced Thursday for his role as the leader of a drug trafficking crew that operated throughout D.C. and Maryland, according to the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Columbia.
Cila Melgar Rodriguez, 36, of Hyattsville, Maryland, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and five years on supervised release and ordered to forfeit $100,000.
Rodriguez, aka “Paipa,” pled guilty in February to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine/crack cocaine and admitted to leading the drug trafficking crew.
According to court documents, on August 12, 2023, one of Rodriguez’s co-conspirators arranged to sell five kilograms of cocaine to a confidential source for $120,000.
DEA officers apprehended the co-conspirators on August 18, 2023, during the scheduled sale in a Costco parking lot. Agents searched the co-conspirator’s automobile and seized a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver and more than 3.6 kg of cocaine.
Rodriguez supplied the dealers with cocaine and organized the operation, but he was not present at the transaction, said the USAO.
An early inquiry revealed that the co-conspirators had obtained the cocaine from Rodriguez outside of an apartment building in Northwest.
According to the USAO, officers recovered the cocaine Rodriguez provided for the deal.
