Bronx Man Pleads Guilty To Drug Trafficking And Firearms Offenses

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ANTONIO MORA pled guilty today to drug trafficking and firearms offenses in connection with his participation in two Bronx-based narcotics conspiracies.  MORA is scheduled to be sentenced on February 3, 2022, by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, who accepted today’s plea.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Antonio Mora was a prolific dealer of heroin and crack, and a violent enforcer for two different narcotics organizations.  Mora participated in multiple shootings of rival drug dealers, including a brazen daytime shooting on a busy residential street where Mora shot a man twice in front of his young daughter.  Now Mora awaits sentencing for his multiple acts of violence and drug trafficking.”

According to the Superseding Indictment, statements made in court, as well as other publicly filed documents in this case:

Between in or about December 2015 and in or about November 2018, MORA participated in two separate conspiracies to distribute crack cocaine and heroin in the Bronx and elsewhere.  MORA also participated in multiple shootings, including two in the second half of 2018.  On September 6, 2018, the defendant and a co-conspirator pursued a rival drug dealer in broad daylight and shot him in the abdomen.  On September 17, 2018, MORA and others chased down a rival drug dealer while he was walking on the street with his daughter in the Bronx, pulled the rival dealer’s daughter from his hands, and shot him twice in the leg.

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MORA, 28, pled guilty to three counts: (1) conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 280 grams and more of crack cocaine and 1 kilogram and more of heroin from in or about December 2015 to June 2018, which carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum prison term of life; (2) conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine and heroin from in or about June 2018 to November 2018, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison; and (3) using and carrying firearms during, and possessing firearms in furtherance of, the narcotics conspiracy, some of which firearms were discharged, which carries a mandatory consecutive prison term of 10 years and a maximum prison term of life.

The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Mathew Andrews, Courtney Heavey, Danielle Sassoon, and paralegal specialist Christopher Sykes are in charge of the prosecution.