News Release For Release:
November 30, 2007
U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
Northern District of Ohio

Gregory A. White
United States Attorney Joseph M. Pinjuh
Assistant U.S. Attorney
(216)622-3771






Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI, announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland, Ohio, returned an 11-count indictment charging:

Rafael Hernandez, aka B, age 29, Edison Mercado, aka Eddie, age 40, Juan J. Colon, Jr., age 24, and William R. Checo, age 41, all of Cleveland, Ohio, with violations of the federal narcotics laws.

Count 1 of the indictment charges all four defendants with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and/or distribution of more than 100 grams of heroin and more than 500 grams of cocaine.

Counts 2-11 of the indictment charge each defendant individually with the use of a communication facility (a telephone) to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal record, if any, the defendants’ role in the offense and the unique characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases they will be less than the maximum.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Pinjuh following a 16-month continuing investigation code named "Operation Slim Jim." The investigation revealed that Moises Reyes, an illegal Dominican national currently wanted on other federal drug charges in this district, and his associates would arrange for multiple kilograms of heroin and cocaine to be brought to Columbus, Ohio, from Arizona and elsewhere. Thereafter, Reyes and his associates would transport kilogram quantities of the heroin and cocaine to the greater Cleveland, Ohio area for re-distribution to Torres and his associates. Torres would then distribute the heroin and cocaine to Rafael Hernandez, aka B, Edison Mercado, aka Eddie, Juan J. Colon, Jr., William R. Checo and others.

Thereafter, Hernandez, Mercado, Colon, Checo and others would sell quantities of heroin and cocaine to various customers throughout the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. During the investigation, thousands of dollars worth of heroin were purchased from Torres. In August 2007, Torres and seven other co-conspirators were indicted in this district. Currently, co-defendants Moises Reyes and Pedro Ayala remain fugitives in that case.

The investigation and initial indictment (case # 1:07CR461, Judge Nugent) also revealed that Torres would, from time to time, obtain illegal telephones for the purpose of conducting drug trafficking business without the risk of being detected by law enforcement. Further, Torres would supply illegal telephones, subscribed to in fictitious names and addresses, to Reyes and other members of the conspiracy to facilitate their drug trafficking activities and avoid law enforcement detection. Torres and Reyes would also transfer proceeds from their drug trafficking activities throughout the United States through the use of Quisqueyana, a wire transfer service operated by Dominican nationals, in an effort to facilitate their drug trafficking activities and avoid law enforcement detection. Additionally, Torres, Reyes and others would obtain and utilize multiple fraudulent identities to conceal their illegal alien status, facilitate their drug trafficking activities and avoid law enforcement detection.

The investigation was conducted by agents and task force officers of the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force (NOLETF). The NOLETF is a long standing multi-agency task force comprised of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Cleveland Division of Police, Cleveland Heights Police Department (CHPD), Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), Euclid Police Department (EPD), Lake County Narcotics Agency, Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Police Department, Willoughby Hills Police Department and Shaker Heights Police Department (SHPD). The NOLETF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiatives. The HIDTA Program supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate, or reduce drug-trafficking in the State of Ohio.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.