Utica man receives jail time for role in fentanyl ring

SYRACUSE, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) — Another member of the Rodriguez Drug Trafficking Organization running out of Oneida County found out his fate in federal court on Wednesday, August 14.

59-year-old Bernabe Lopez of Utica was sentenced to 88 months — seven years, four months — for his role in the fentanyl conspiracy. He was also ordered to serve a four-year term of supervised release, as well as repay the proceeds of his offenses — totaling just over $5,000.

Lopez was found to have received quantities of fentanyl from co-conspirators, which he then re-distributed to others in the Utica area. Lopez was also found to have sold a cutting agent to co-conspirators. According to Department of Justice attorneys, the co-conspirators would use the cutting agent to adulterate the fentanyl itself to increase its volume for sales.

Lopez is the ninth defendant charged in the Rodriguez DTO conspiracy. In March, the head of the conspiracy — Ivan Rodriguez Sr. — was sentenced to over ten years in prison after admitting to running the conspiracy between May 2020 and October 2021.

All of the other members of the conspiracy brought before the court have pled guilty. All of them have received sentences between five and ten years.

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