Orange County Heroin Dealer Sentenced To Prison

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell today sentenced Eric Manuel Robles Rivera (45, Orlando) to 33 months in federal prison for possessing heroin with the intent to distribute it. Robles Rivera had pleaded guilty on April 23, 2020.

According to court documents, Robles Rivera was part of a drug trafficking organization (“DTO”) that was distributing heroin and other controlled substances in Orange County. During its investigation of the DTO, the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned that Robles Rivera kept heroin at a storage unit in a facility in Kissimmee, and that he had accessed the storage unit almost daily between June 2016 and March 2017. On March 9, 2017, investigators executed search warrants at locations associated with members of the DTO. Inside the storage unit that had been rented by Robles Rivera, investigators found more than 60 grams of heroin packaged in dozens of baggies.

This case is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply. This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tampa Police Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore.