Jeffrey Riggins, 44, was sentenced to 36 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Juan Sanchez, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan.
Last November, a jury in federal court in Philadelphia convicted Riggins of 24 counts of possession with intent to deliver cocaine and one felony gun possession charge. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gallagher.
Riggins and several others were arrested in December 2006 after local, state and federal authorities investigated the Mafia-El Don organization for months.
Police said the drug gang distributed 50 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $4 million in the Lehigh Valley between the summer and winter of 2006, mainly out of an Easton restaurant called Cesar's Mexican Cocinar on Butler Street. The cocaine was also sold at J&M Collision on Sumner Avenue in Allentown and at a home/store on Ferry Street in Easton, authorities said.
Riggins, police said, purchased large quantities of cocaine from Mafia-El Don for redistribution.The arrests were part of Operation White Market, the first case prosecuted under the federally funded Route 222 Corridor Anti-Gang Initiative.
Investigators purchased more than 1 kilogram of cocaine in undercover buys using informants and conducted stakeouts of the gang's activities, authorities said.
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