MS-13 gang member gets 17 years for running drug ring from prison

An MS-13 gang member received a 17-year sentence for running a fentanyl distribution ring from a Florida state prison. The Justice Department said Mario Clifford Rivera, 32, pleaded guilty to drug charges and will serve his new sentence once he completes another sentence for a separate felony.

“Rivera’s 17-year federal prison sentence should serve as a warning to MS-13 and other terrorist gangs who seek to flood our communities with deadly poisons like fentanyl: Whether you operate on the streets or behind prison walls, we will identify your leaders and members, dismantle your networks, and hold you accountable using the full force of American law,” Hayden O’Byrne, the U.S. attorney for South Florida, said in a statement. 

How did Rivera run the ring?

Authorities said the drugs were smuggled into California from Mexico by carrying them over the border wall and were shipped from California to Florida through the U.S. Postal Service. Rivera coordinated the sale and distribution of the drugs from inside a state prison in Doral, Florida. Prosecutors said Rivera used prison phones and contraband cellphones to tell dealers on the outside how to sell the drugs and how much to charge, all while ensuring he received his share of the profits.

How deadly is fentanyl? 

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Unbiased. Straight Facts.^TM

From October 2024 to January 2025, U.S. Postal Service investigators seized 2,632 pounds of methamphetamine, 3,885 pounds of cocaine, 1,301 pounds of fentanyl and 25 pounds of heroin.

According to prosecutors, Rivera distributed more than three kilograms (or 6.6 pounds) of fentanyl. The Drug Enforcement Agency says one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. 

As a member of the MS-13 gang, Rivera is part of a foreign terrorist organization under federal law. On Feb. 20, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated MS-13, Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and five other transnational criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. The designation came as a result of an executive order President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office.

Are drugs shipped in the mail frequently? 

Illegal drugs are shipped through the mail every day, authorities said. In one recent three-month period alone, from October 2024 to January 2025, Postal Service investigators seized 2,632 pounds of methamphetamine, 3,885 pounds of cocaine, 1,301 pounds of fentanyl and 25 pounds of heroin. In fiscal year 2020, the USPS seized 124,000 pounds of illegal narcotics in addition to $39 million in illegal proceeds. 

Rivera started this distribution scheme while free on bond on another felony charge. He was sentenced to three years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, throwing a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault.

Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief

Ella Greene

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