A Bronx drug lord who stashed cocaine in lunch boxes and diaper bags at a borough day care has been sentenced to seven years in prison, officials said Thursday.
Gregorio Hanley, who served as a top manager and distributor for Juan Valdez in New York City, joined his boss in pleading guilty to a mountain of drug charges stemming from the April 2014 raid of Fun World Childcare, along with seven other top lieutenants.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan charged that since 2009, Valdez conspired to have cocaine transported from Puerto Rico to the Bronx through the U.S. Mail.
Hanley used his home on Rosedale Ave. in Parkchester as a stash house, where he and his girlfriend operated the day care center. Authorities found cabinets stuffed with cash, at least a kilo of cocaine and more than 1,000 Oxycodone pills in that raid, officials said.
Drugs were mailed to the house wrapped in SpongeBob SquarePants bedding, and other items, officials said.
One of Valdez’s lieutenants — a relative — conducted an identical operation at his home on E. 184th St. in Fordham Heights, where a second day care called Sweet Home Child Care was operating, officials said.
Valdez and his group smuggled between five and 10 kilograms of cocaine into New York City each month, authorities said. Each kilogram carrying an estimated street value of $60,000, officials said.
Valdez hired couriers to travel from JFK Airport to San Juan, Puerto Rico, carrying suitcases full of cash to pay for narcotics, officials said.
