News
Release

For Release: December 12, 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


http://cleveland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/20 ... 121207.htm




Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI; and Michael McGrath, Chief, Cleveland Division of Police, announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland, Ohio, returned a 49-count indictment charging 14 individuals:

1. David Calderon-Valentin, aka Osvaldo Mejia-Suazo, aka Teniente, age 47, of New York, New York;

2. Ulises Rutinel, aka Cabeza, age 29, of Cleveland, Ohio;

3. Sean Inniss, aka Red, age 34, of Parma, Ohio;

4. Giezi Latorre, aka Gigi, age 24, of Cleveland, Ohio;

5. Luis Deaza, aka Manguera, age 23, of Cleveland, Ohio;

6. Michael Gonzalez, age 31, of Valley View, Ohio;

7. Charles Coleman, aka Chuck, age 28, of Cleveland, Ohio;

8. Danny Lopez, age 26, of Cleveland, Ohio;

9. Jose Deleon, age 31, of Cleveland, Ohio;

10. Victor Montanez, aka Manolo, age 32, of Cleveland, Ohio;

11. Maria Montanez, aka Maggie, age 30, of Parma, Ohio;

12. Evangelita Montanez, aka Evie, age 26, of Cleveland, Ohio;

13. Mayra Latorre, age 23, of Cleveland, Ohio, and;

14. Yasser Salem, age 23, of Cleveland, Ohio, with violations of the federal narcotics, firearm and money laundering laws.

Count 1 of the indictment charges all 14 defendants with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and/or distribution of at least one or more kilograms of heroin, at least five or more kilograms of cocaine and at least 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.

Counts 2-4 of the indictment charge Inniss and Rutinel individually with the distribution of various amounts of cocaine.

Counts 5-42 of the indictment charge each defendant individually with the use of a communication facility (a telephone) to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.

Count 43 of the indictment charges Rutinel, Inniss, Giezi Latorre and Mayra Latorre, with traveling in interstate commerce (to New York) to facilitate the distribution of heroin.

Count 44 of the indictment charges Calderon-Valentin, Rutinel, Inniss, Giezi Latorre and Evangelita Montanez with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Count 45 of the indictment charges Inniss with being a felon in possession of two firearms (.22 caliber and 9mm pistols).

Counts 46-48 of the indictment charge Deaza, Inniss and Gonzalez individually with possession with the intent to distribute various amounts of heroin.

Count 49 of the indictment charges Giezi Latorre with possession with the intent to distribute marijuana.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ roles in the offenses and the unique characteristics of the violations. 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 15 month investigation code named "Operation Red Rider", which included several Title III wire taps on the cellular telephones of Inniss and Rutinel. The investigation revealed that Calderon-Valentin, an illegal Dominican national residing in New York, New York, and his associates would arrange for large quantities of heroin to be brought to Cleveland, Ohio, from New York. Thereafter, Rutinel and Inniss, assisted by other members of the conspiracy, would sell the heroin to their various customers in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. Additionally, Inniss and Rutinel would purchase kilogram amounts of cocaine and marijuana from unknown Cleveland- based suppliers and sell the drugs to their various customers throughout Northeast Ohio. During the investigation, more than ten thousand dollars worth of cocaine was purchased from Inniss and Rutinel. Additionally, on November 9, 2007, investigating agents and officers seized over $20,000 worth of heroin, $350 worth of marijuana and two illegal firearms during the arrests and subsequent searches of Inniss, Rutinel, Deaza and Geizi Latorre.

The investigation also revealed that Calderon-Valentin, Rutinel, Inniss and others would obtain prepaid telephones using fictitous names for the purpose of conducting drug trafficking business without the risk of being detected by law enforcement. Additionally, Calderon-Valentin and Rutinel would obtain and utilize multiple fraudulent identities to conceal their true identity (and in the case of Calderon-Valentin, his 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.