U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Nathaniel Quiles, 37, Kissimmee, to 9 years and 4 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.
The court ordered that the sentence be served consecutive to a State of Florida prison sentence of 15 years, which Quiles is currently serving.
Quiles had pleaded guilty to the federal charges on June 17, 2021.
According to court documents, in 2017, deputies from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office found Quiles in possession of 14 or more grams of heroin.
The State of Florida charged Quiles with trafficking in heroin and the State Court placed him on house arrest pending trial. In 2018, a State Court jury convicted Quiles of the State trafficking offense and that Court sentenced him to prison.
The FBI was also aware Quiles was a heroin dealer in the Orlando area, and aware that he was responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin. While Quiles’ case was pending trial in State court, the FBI learned that he was owed payment for a previous delivery of 500 grams of heroin. Investigators used a confidential source to pay Quiles for the outstanding drug debt and to purchase an additional 100 grams of heroin.
Quiles, who remained in his home during these transactions, used co-conspirators in the Orlando area and in Tampa to distribute the heroin and collect payments.
This investigation is the result of a partnership between the United States Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tampa Police Department, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore.
This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
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