PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Two Providence men are facing charges after prosecutors say a U.S. Postal Service employee was attacked and robbed of a package containing more than half a kilogram of cocaine.
A federal grand jury handed up an indictment Wednesday charging Juan Bautista Rosario-Sandoval and Duralline Azcona Rodriguez with conspiracy to possess more than 500 grams of cocaine, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha.
Bautista Rosario-Sandoval, 29, was also charged with assault and robbery of a U.S. mail carrier and conspiracy to assault and rob a U.S. mail carrier.
Prosecutors allege that on Sept. 18, 2021, Bautista Rosario-Sandoval and a second individual approached the mail carrier and tried to forcibly take a package being delivered to a Broad Street address. When the carrier refused, the suspects reportedly opened the doors to the USPS vehicle and started punching and pulling at the carrier before running off with the package.
Azcona Rodriguez, 24, was allegedly waiting in a vehicle nearby to assist with getting the package, prosecutors said.
The cocaine conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 40 years in prison and supervised release for life, according to the U.S. attorney’s office, while assault and robbery of a U.S. mail carrier and conspiracy to assault and rob a U.S. mail carrier are each punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
In a similar but separate case, several cocaine trafficking suspects are charged with abducting a USPS mail carrier at gunpoint in Pawtucket back in June. Court documents show they were allegedly looking for cocaine they claimed was missing from a package that had been delivered.
