Manuel Geovanny Rodriguez-Perez headed an organization that sold marijuana and killed nine people
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced that the head of a marijuana ring admitted to ordering the death of an Englewood man. The leader of a large racketeering organization admitted Tuesday to his role in the deaths of nine people, including an Englewood man.
Manuel Geovanny Rodriguez-Perez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in New York to a count of racketeering conspiracy and dozens of illegal acts as part of running an organization that sold marijuana, killed nine people and tried to kill another 10, authorities said.
Several agencies, led by Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, and including the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Englewood Police Department, had taken part in an investigation into Rodriguez-Perez, an effort first announced in 2010. As part of a plea offer, Rodriguez-Perez took responsibility for the deaths of nine people from 1997 to 2006.
They included Wilfredo "Willie" Molina. Molina was shot multiple times in 2004 on his way home from a New York City barber shop he owned. His wife found him outside their Englewood home and he died shortly after.
Rodriguez-Perez ordered Molina's death in New Jersey, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said.
"His public admissions to his crimes and his ultimate sentence hopefully will provide some closure to the victims of Rodgriguez-Perez's brutal violence," Bharara said.
Rodriguez-Perez was charged with Molina's death in 2014. The case had gone cold until then, Arthur O'Keefe, then chief of the Englewood Police Department, said at the time.
Rodriguez-Perez faces life in prison. He agreed to pay a $25 million penalty, the approximate amount he made from racketeering activities, properties in New York, Florida and the Dominican Republic and cash and jewelry seized by police.
Police arrested Rodriguez-Perez on Oct. 15, 2010. He has been in custody since.
The marijuana ring transported tons of marijuana from Florida and California to be distributed in the New York area between the early 1990s until more than 50 of its members were arrested in 2010.
Rodriguez-Perez is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 25.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.