A former Berks County resident must join his brother behind federal prison bars, a judge ruled Monday in sentencing him for his role in a drug-trafficking ring that operated in Schuylkill County for four years.
Hector Rivera, 36, formerly of Reading, will serve 12 years in a federal correctional institution under the terms of Senior U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik's sentence.
Kosik also ordered Rivera to spend three years on supervised release after he completes his prison term, submit a DNA sample to federal authorities and pay a $500 fine and $100 special assessment.
Rivera pleaded guilty on Jan. 12 to conspiring to possess and distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.
A grand jury indicted Rivera and his brother, Juan Rivera, on April 8, 2008, alleging that beginning in January 2004 and continuing until the date of the indictment, they obtained methamphetamine from Las Vegas, Nev., and brought it into Schuylkill County.
Juan Rivera, Shoemakersville, pleaded guilty on Oct. 16, 2008, to conspiracy. Kosik sentenced him on June 24, 2010, to serve 188 months in a federal correctional institution, spend five years on supervised release after he completes his prison term, submit a DNA sample to federal authorities and pay a $100 special assessment.
The indictment of the Riveras resulted from an investigation by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Schuylkill County District Attorney's Office and local police in Schuylkill County.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case against the Riveras.