New Bedford Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to Prison
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
April 27, 2023
A 47-year-old New Bedford man who utilized his local clothing store to traffick cocaine was sentenced to serve five to seven years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Jose Nieves-Beniquez pled guilty in Fall River Superior Court on April 11 to indictments charging him with Trafficking Cocaine and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Class D Drug.
On June 12, 2020, New Bedford Police detectives executed a search warrant for Rosalinda’s Fashions, the defendant’s business located at 104 Allen Street in New Bedford. Detectives stopped the defendant after seeing him leave the store in his gray Mini Cooper vehicle and returning to its parking lot. They executed the search warrant and found a total of 28 plastic bags of cocaine hidden in a closet inside of duct work inside the defendant’s business. Testing at the crime lab later confirmed that the bags contained approximately 220 grams of cocaine. Detectives also found two plastic bags containing 1.1 pounds of marijuana, digital scales, packaging materials, $12,254 cash, and other indicia of street-level narcotics distribution. After learning that the defendant resided in an apartment above the store, detectives obtained and executed a search warrant for his residence at 98 Allen Street, Apt. 2. There they found a United States Postal Service box immediately outside his apartment that was addressed to a “Ray Carlson” at the defendant’s address. Detectives confirmed that no person named Ray Carlson resided at 98 Allen Street. Inside the box, police located an additional 2.4 pounds of marijuana.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jose Vazquez and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Renee Dupuis.
“I am pleased the defendant was held accountable for using his small business to sell large quantities of narcotics for profit,” District Attorney Quinn said. “The defendant’s actions were helping to fuel the ongoing addiction crisis in our urban areas.”
Contact:
Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
774-292-9576