GOSHEN – The director of a New York City-based anti-violence program has been sentenced in Orange County Court to 10 years in state prison on his guilty plea on felony drug and conspiracy charges.
Michael Rodriguez, 49, of Yonkers is the director of Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence, an anti-violence program that received government money and works in the Bronx to promote safer streets.
He will also face five years of post-release supervision, forfeit a car and $165,000 as ill-gotten proceeds of his crimes.
Middletown City Police had engaged in a two-year investigation into cocaine trafficking in around the city allegedly committed by Angelica Rodriguez, also known as ‘Jelly,” 49, of Otisville. The Orange County Drug Task Force assisted in the investigation.
Court-ordered eavesdropping helped crack the case when it was discovered that the same suppliers of cocaine who were providing Angelica Rodriguez and her co-conspirators with cocaine to sell, were also supplying narcotics to those in the City of Port Jervis whose police department was also involved in the investigation.
Michael Rodriguez was accused of supplying cocaine to narcotics dealers in Middletown and Port Jervis and possessing two illegal handguns.
A July 2023 warrant search of his Yonkers residence yielded over 1.5 kilos of cocaine, more than $165,000 in cash, digital scales, a money counter, two unlicensed guns, a vacuum sealer, and jewelry estimated at some $50,000.
At the plea proceedings, Michael Rodriguez admitted to entering into a conspiracy with Angelica Rodriguez ad Taino Lopez and supplying them with cocaine to resell.
Michael Rodriguez was sentenced on Thursday, January 4 by Judge Craig Stephen Brown.
