NEW YORK - A Honduran native arrived in the Southern District of New York from the Republic of Honduras on March 24, to face charges for conspiring to distribute cocaine using an aircraft.

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed on March 23, in Manhattan federal court, Juan Jose Veliz Pineda, a/k/a “Rocky,” facilitated the shipment of over 400 kilograms of cocaine to an airstrip in Honduras in June 2011.  He was arrested in Honduras on March 13, 2012, and was turned over to U.S. authorities to face the charges.

Veliz Pineda, 48, is charged with one count of conspiring to possess and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on board an aircraft owned by a United States citizen and registered in the United States.

The maximum penalty for this offense is life in prison, with a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison.