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TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Lee County man was convicted by a jury for attempted trafficking in heroin and conspiracy to traffic in more than 28 grams of heroin. Ricardo Rivera was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution and will be sentenced at a later date. Attempted trafficking is a second-degree felony and conspiracy to traffic is first degree felony. Judge Mark Steinbeck presided over the trial.

Authorities with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office learned Rivera, 32, was involved in heroin trafficking during an undercover operation in January 2007. Working through a confidential source during a controlled buy, detectives attempted to purchase nine ounces of heroin valued at over $20,000 from Rivera and a codefendant, Carlos Rodriguez. Rivera and the codefendant agreed to meet the confidential source near a Lehigh Acres shopping center, and when the confidential source verified the heroin was present, law enforcement arrested Rivera’s codefendant. Rivera fled, but was arrested later that evening.

Codefendant Carlos Rodriguez, 32, previously pleaded guilty to trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in heroin and testified against Rivera during the trial as part of his plea agreement. Rodriguez will be sentenced in September to seven years in prison to be followed by five years of probation. He will also be ordered to pay a $500,000 fine as well as the costs of the state’s prosecution and investigation. Rivera faces a minimum of 25 years in prison but could receive up to 45 years when he is sentenced.