An Essex County man and a Hudson County man admitted possessing with intent to distribute over a kilogram of fentanyl, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Coco Latre, 32, of Belleville, pleaded guilty Dec. 6 before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to an information charging him with possession with intent to distribute over one kilogram of fentanyl. Bryant Agurto, 33, of Hoboken, pleaded guilty by videoconference before McNulty on Nov. 10, 2021, to an information that charged him with possession with intent to distribute over one kilogram of fentanyl.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
On March 5, 2021, Agurto travelled from Hoboken to Latre’s residence in Belleville to retrieve fentanyl that had been packaged by Latre. After Agurto left Latre’s residence, law enforcement officers conducted a motor vehicle stop of Agurto’s car and found the package of fentanyl.
Shortly thereafter, law enforcement officers searched Latre’s residence and recovered more fentanyl, seizing a total of 1.6 kilograms of fentanyl from the car and residence.
The offense to which Agurto and Latre pleaded guilty carries a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum penalty of life in prison and a fine of $10 million.
Sentencing for Latre is scheduled for April 12, 2022.
Sentencing for Agurto is scheduled for March 23, 2022.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.