Two Ohio men, Virgil Cooper and Angelo Jordan, have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy. U.S. District Judge William F. Jung handed down sentences of 19 years and 7 months for Cooper and 15 years and 8 months for Jordan after a federal jury found them guilty on May 1, 2025.
Evidence presented during the four-day trial showed that Cooper contacted a former federal prison cellmate who had been deported to Colombia after serving his sentence. Cooper sought to purchase multiple kilograms of cocaine directly from Colombia at a reduced price. The former cellmate introduced Cooper to a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who arranged for an undercover viewing of 10 kilograms of cocaine in Tampa in February 2023. Because Cooper was still serving time at a halfway house from a prior felony conviction, he sent Jordan in his place. Jordan drove from Ohio to Tampa for the meeting.
After further communications and following Cooper’s release from the halfway house, both men traveled from Cleveland to Tampa on August 3, 2023, delivering $120,000 as a down payment for an initial shipment of 30 kilograms of cocaine. Both were arrested at that time.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA with assistance from the Tampa Police Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney David Rehfuss and Assistant United States Attorney E. Jackson Boggs, Jr., prosecuted the case.
“This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF,” according to information provided by authorities.
