A Bronx man who used a Nanuet garage to take in a 66-pound shipment of cocaine hidden in a piece of furniture has been sentenced to nine years in state prison.
Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe said the arrest of Ramon Lozada, 43, 0f 3210 Creston Ave., the Bronx, and his subsequent guilty plea came from an investigation of New York City drug dealers who were arranging for large shipments of cocaine to suburban locations to avoid detection by police.
Lozada, who pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in Rockland County Court in New City, was arrested May 6, 2010, when he accepted a FedEx delivery at 98 Church St., Nanuet, of a crate containing a loveseat. Zugibe said that hidden inside the loveseat was 30 kilos – 66 pounds — of cocaine.
The garage where the delivery was made was being used by Lozada for auto repairs, Zugibe said. His arrest followed a joint investigation by the Rockland County Special Investigations Unit and the New York City Police Department.
In addition to the prison sentence, Rockland County Court Judge William K. Nelson ordered Lozada to serve five years post-release supervision.
