Ten defendants have been sentenced to federal prison for participating in a South Florida cocaine trafficking network that prosecutors say obtained drugs from a Mexican cartel, transported cocaine and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash across the United States and included a cartel representative sent to Miami to oversee the organization’s interests.
The sentences ranged from 21 months to more than 15 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Eight of the defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Federal prosecutors said the organization operated from at least September 2024 through September 2025 and obtained cocaine from a Mexican drug cartel as well as other suppliers.
One defendant, Mexican national Javier Garcia-Mora, 40, was sent to Miami by members of the cartel to oversee its interests in South Florida, according to court records cited by prosecutors. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Garcia-Mora was in the United States illegally.
He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
“Mexican drug cartels do not get to establish a foothold in South Florida,” U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said in announcing the sentences.
“This organization brought cartel-supplied cocaine into our communities, moved drugs and bulk cash across the country, and even had a cartel representative sent to Miami to oversee its interests,” Reding Quiñones said. “Ten defendants are now headed to federal prison.”
Prosecutors did not identify the Mexican cartel that allegedly supplied the organization in the press release announcing the sentences.
The longest sentence went to Reinaldo Fernandez, 63, who prosecutors said obtained cocaine from the Mexican cartel and other sources.
Gayles sentenced Fernandez to 188 months — 15 years and eight months — in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
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