NEW YORK (WWLP) – A Massachusetts man has been found guilty in a cocaine trafficking scheme at a Manhattan federal court Monday.
Following a one-week trial, the jury found 49-year-old Abel Montilla, of Springfield, guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute narcotics.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, Montilla was a member of a drug trafficking organization that trafficked cocaine hidden inside custom-built furniture between 2018 and 2021. Specifically, between September 2018 and June 2019, the drug organization sent 27 shipments of cargo from Puerto Rico to the United States. In total, the drug organization shipped approximately 4,000 kilograms of cocaine worth at least $120 million on the streets.
Montilla was a Massachusetts coordinator of cocaine shipments for the drug trafficking organization. He delivered the cocaine shipments through the night from Massachusetts to Florida and then would fly back to Massachusetts. It is believed Montilla coordinated at least a dozen drug shipments and at least twelve shipments of the 27 were sent to addresses affiliated with Montilla.
Montilla is scheduled for sentencing on March 22, 2023. He is facing a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.