Middletown Drug Dealer Receives Prison Sentence

MIDDLETOWN, NY — An Orange County drug dealer found out how long she would be spending behind bars after her guilty plea to possessing illegal drugs and conspiring to sell them.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced Tuesday that Angelica “Jelly” Rodriguez, 40, of Middletown, was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by three years post-release supervision.

She had previously pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second- and fourth-degree conspiracy.

Prosecutors said the City of Middletown Police Department conducted a two-year investigation into cocaine trafficking in and around the city committed by Rodriguez, who was then living in Otisville.

After a conventional investigative failed to reveal evidence showing the entire extent of the narcotics conspiracy surrounding Rodriguez, the district attorney’s office applied for permission to use court-ordered eavesdropping.

It was then discovered that the same suppliers of cocaine who were providing Rodriguez and her co-conspirators with cocaine to sell were also supplying narcotics to those in the city of Port Jervis.

Michael Rodriguez was accused of supplying cocaine to narcotics dealers in the city of Middletown and the city of Port Jervis and possessing two illegal handguns

On July 26, a search warrant was executed at Michael Rodriguez’s Yonkers residence, resulting in the seizure of 1,516 grams (more than 1.5 kilograms) of cocaine, $165,509 cash, scales, a money order an unlicensed Ruger .380 caliber pistol, an unlicensed Bond Arms .357 caliber handgun, a vacuum sealer, digital scales and jewelry estimated to be worth about $50,000.

Police said Michael Rodriguez regularly supplied cocaine to Angelica Rodriguez, who would sell it in and around Middletown, and Taino Lopez who would sell it in and around Port Jervis.

Hoovler said the flow of large quantities of narcotics into the communities must be interrupted by identifying traffickers through long-term and dedicated law enforcement investigations.

“My office joins our law enforcement partners in the ongoing battle against narcotics and will utilize all resources available to us to bring drug dealers to justice,” he said.