Detroit man sentenced to 60 years in prison for running drug operation

DETROIT — A Detroit man convicted of leading a drug-trafficking operation in the Bay City and Saginaw area has been sentenced to 60 years in prison, officials said.

Ricardo Delgado II, 51, was sentenced Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said.

"This defendant endangered countless individuals by trafficking in large quantities of deadly fentanyl and cocaine," she said in a statement. "He also sought to use violence to protect his trade in illicit drugs.

"This sentence should serve as a stark warning that our office will zealously pursue those who seek to bring illegal drugs and violence into our community."

Delgado's attorney was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.

After a week-long trial in June, a federal jury convicted Delgado of multiple crimes, including possession with intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine; possession with intent to distribute at least 400 grams of fentanyl; possession of a machinegun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; being a felon in possession of a firearm; possession of an unregistered silencer; and, use of communication facility to commit a drug offense, Ison said.

If convicted, he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 55 years and a maximum of life in prison, officials said.

Authorities said Delgado led an operation that imported cocaine and fentanyl from Mexico and sold it in the Saginaw-Bay City area.

FBI agents investigated allegations against Delgado and learned through court-authorized wiretaps that he planned to retaliate against a subordinate he said stole drugs from him, prosecutors said.

Investigators thwarted his plan, arrested Delgado and seized 13 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of fentanyl, 10 firearms, two machine guns, two silencers as well as more than $200,000 in cash from his residence.

"Today's sentencing of Ricardo Delgado, a notorious drug trafficker, marks a critical milestone in our ongoing efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis and protect the public from its devastating effects," Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan, said in a statement. "The FBI Michigan remains firmly committed to addressing the dual threats of illegal firearms trafficking and drug distribution that endanger the safety of our communities."

Delgado is the most recent defendant in federal court in Michigan to be convicted of drug dealing.

Last month, a Canadian man was convicted of dealing drugs and leading an organization that transported hundreds of thousands of pills across the U.S.-Canadian border for years.

Earlier in October, two men pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl in connection with at least six 2023 fentanyl-linked deaths in Kalamazoo County. Both are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6.

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