A box mailed to Springfield from Puerto Rico had been intercepted and found to contain nearly 500 grams of cocaine.
SPRINGFIELD – A Hampden Superior Court jury late Friday found two men and a woman guilty in a case where nearly 500 grams of cocaine was delivered in a Johnson’s Baby Wipes container to an apartment on McKnight Street.
Convicted by the jury in the case prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Neil Desroches were Jose Cosme, 40, Jose Rodriguez, 30, and Maria Cosme, 34.
The three will be sentenced Monday, and each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years on the drug conviction plus two more years on a conviction for violation of a drug free school zone.
“It’s a significant drug case in which a large amount of drugs were taken off the streets. It was a well done investigation by police and we’re very pleased with the verdict and the effort put into the investigation,” Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said after the verdict.
Police testified the value of the drugs was $25,000.
Judge John A. Agostini ruled previously that the state did not have enough evidence to send the case of a fourth co-defendant, 35-year-old Angel Pagan, to the jury so his case was ended.
Bryon L. Daily, a federal postal inspector, donned a mail carrier’s garb on Nov. 14, 2009, and delivered a box to 75 McKnight St.
Because the box, mailed from Puerto Rico and addressed to 75 McKnight St., had been intercepted and found to contain the cocaine, police had a warrant to go into the apartment if anyone took delivery of the package.
Defense lawyers Jared Olanoff, Edward C. Bryant Jr. and John F. Kavanagh Jr., in their closings Friday morning, each argued their individual clients were not involved with the drugs.
They said the law does not allow for conviction if the state doesn’t prove the individual has knowledge of the drug and control over it.
When a large group of police entered the apartment a short time after the delivery the drugs were found in a dryer vent in the basement.