A federal jury in Florida has found two Ohio men guilty of conspiring to distribute and attempting to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Virgil Cooper, 42, of Cleveland, and Angelo Jordan, 49, of Euclid, face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. Sentencing hearings have not yet been scheduled.
According to testimony and evidence presented during the trial, Virgil Cooper initiated the conspiracy by contacting a former federal prison cellmate who had been deported to Colombia. Cooper sought to purchase multiple kilograms of cocaine directly from Colombia at a discounted price.
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The former cellmate introduced Cooper to a confidential source working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This source helped arrange for Cooper to view 10 kilograms of cocaine with undercover DEA officers in Tampa in February 2023.
As Cooper was still serving the remainder of a previous sentence in a halfway house at the time, he sent his associate, Angelo Jordan, to attend the viewing.
After repeated communications and Cooper’s subsequent release from the halfway house, Cooper and Jordan traveled from Cleveland, Ohio, to Tampa on August 3, 2023. Their purpose was to deliver a $120,000 down payment for an initial quantity of 30 kilograms of cocaine. Both men were arrested upon attempting to complete the transaction.
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This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney David Rehfuss and Assistant United States Attorney E. Jackson Boggs, Jr.
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