#parent | #kids | #parents | #teensvaping | Feds: Final defendant pleads guilty in Schenectady-based heroin distribution conspiracy


ALBANY — The final defendant arrested in connection with a Schenectady-based heroin distribution ring has pleaded guilty, say U.S. Attorney’s officials.

Esteban Ressy, 44, also known as “The Boss,” of Schenectady and Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to traffic a kilogram or more of heroin, officials said.

Ressy was one of nine people indicted in January, accused of taking part in the ring in Schenectady. He is the ninth and final defendant to plead guilty, officials said.

Ressy admitted that he was a member of a drug trafficking organization that distributed more than a kilogram of heroin in Schenectady between 2017 and December 2018.

Ressy was the leader of the Schenectady faction of the organization and regularly obtained hundreds of grams of heroin from another member of the conspiracy, Jean Carlos Rivera-Perez, 37, in the Bronx. 

The heroin was then packaged and sold in and around Schenectady by other members of the organization, officials said.

In addition to Ressy and Rivera-Perez, the other seven who were charged and pleaded guilty to related crimes were:

  • Leamzy Soto Calderon, aka “Lee,” aka “Gordo,” 29, of Schenectady
  • Linette Marie Soto, 25, of Schenectady
  • Kristen Jansen, 28, of Schenectady
  • Jose Cortes-Cruz, aka “Bimbo,” 29, of Schenectady
  • Gregory Insogna, 46, of Amsterdam
  • Patrick McNamara, 48, of Amsterdam
  • Daniel Garcia, 34, residence unavailable

Insogna (5 years), Calderon (4 years, 9 months) and Cortes-Cruz (1 year, 1 day) have each been sentenced. The others await sentencing.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the state police, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Amsterdam Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyrus P.W. Rieck.





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