Pawtucket man pleads guilty to cocaine trafficking

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A 28-year-old man from Pawtucket is scheduled to be sentenced by a federal judge after he admitted he retrieved and was in possession of what he believed to be a controlled substance, U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said Wednesday.

According to charging documents, Jomar Cruz-Aponte, 28, admitted that he agreed to retrieve a package from the front porch of a Pawtucket residence and deliver it to another person in exchange for $100.

Information presented to the court says that the package that was supposed to be retrieved by Cruz-Aponte contained one kilogram of cocaine inside the tube of an old TV that was shipped from Colombia and  was seized by Customs and Border Protection.

Law enforcement officers set up surveillance at the location that the package was addressed to and after it was delivered, they saw Cruz-Aponte walking around the area then returning a short time later in a car and retrieved the package.

Pawtucket police later stopped the car Cruz-Aponte was in. During the stop he attempted to flee officers, lunging from the car and throwing the package to the ground. He quickly surrendered to police afterwards.

Cruz-Aponte pleaded guilty to a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 20, 2023.