Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Nathasha Michelle Prieto (34, Bradenton) to six years and six months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine. Prieto had pleaded guilty on January 5, 2023.
According to court documents, Prieto, a former United States Postal Carrier, and her co-defendant, Angel Hernandez Coss, orchestrated a scheme by which Prieto provided addresses on her delivery route to Coss who used those addresses to secure shipments of cocaine from Puerto Rico. As a result, kilogram quantities of cocaine were shipped in packages to these addresses. Prieto then removed the packages from the mail stream and provide them to Coss who then distributed the cocaine.
Coss was sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison on May 17, 2023.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service – Office of Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Manatee County Sherriff’s Office, and the Bradenton Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jim Preston.