Leader Of Drug Trafficking Network Pleads Guilty To Cocaine Distribution

Monday, February 3, 2025, 6:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

CONCORD, NJ.- On Wednesday, February 29, 2025, Lewiston Baez Miranda, 50, formerly of Manchester, New Hampshire, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante to one count of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Cocaine.

     Following his guilty plea, Judge Laplante accepted it and scheduled sentencing for May 7, 2025. At sentencing, Miranda faces up to 20 years in federal prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine. A U.S. District Court Judge will determine the term of imprisonment based on the seriousness of the offense and Miranda’s prior criminal history.

According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack and statements made in the District Court, Miranda was the leader of a drug trafficking organization that shipped quantities of cocaine through the U.S. Postal Service from Puerto Rico to Manchester, New Hampshire. 

     Miranda’s son, based in Puerto Rico, used fictitious information to send packages through the mail to Manchester at the direction of his father. The cocaine was at times packaged in 500-gram or 1,000-gram bundles and hidden inside children’s games. Miranda employed co-conspirators to pick up the packages of cocaine for him in Manchester, New Hampshire.

     Miranda also sent the drug proceeds to his son in Puerto Rico, in one instance sending him a parcel containing $11,000. Between September 2020 and December 2021, Miranda’s drug trafficking organization shipped over 5.6 kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Manchester, New Hampshire, for redistribution.

     Acting U.S. Attorney McCormack commended the investigative work of the United States Postal Inspections and the Manchester Police Department.