Rhode Island-Guatemala Heroin Ring: Another Guilty Plea

PROVIDENCE, RI — Another member of an alleged Rhode Island-Guatemala heroin ring pleaded guilty last week to drug charges, authorities said. Michael Miller, 39, of Cincinnati, Ohio, admitted to offering $50,000 to Guatemalan drug suppliers for a kilogram of heroin, according to Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Stephen Dambruch. Miller on Thursday appeared in federal court in Providence and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and using a phone for drug trafficking.

Miller, who was arrested in July in his hometown and has since been held in custody, will be sentenced in August. Two co-conspirators — Olga Sandoval, of Massachusetts, and Jose Luis Amparo Nova, of Providence — also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 7 years in prison and 4 years in prison, respectively.

Police said the trio operated in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York and tried to purchase "significant quantities of heroin from suppliers in Guatemala," Dambruch said in a statement.

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