Former City of Muskogee employee sentenced for distributing cocaine

MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A former City of Muskogee employee was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison on Thursday for distributing cocaine.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) said 45-year-old John Paul Cruz Rosado was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison for one count of distribution of cocaine and another 11 years and three months for one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

The two prison terms will be served concurrently, the DOJ said.

The charges followed an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, with assistance from the Zanesville, Ohio Police Department.

The DOJ said in July of 2024, Rosado, the former Director/Event Manager for the Muskogee Civic Center, pleaded guilty to the charges.

Investigators said on November 29, 2023, Rosado sold around 10 ounces of cocaine. During the execution of a search warrant at Rosado’s house on December 6, 2023, authorities seized over nine pounds of cocaine, along with scales, baggies, cash, firearms and other evidence of drug trafficking.

“OBN is grateful to our partners with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for helping secure a significant sentence in this case,” said OBN Director Donnie Anderson. “Cocaine distribution is on the rise across Oklahoma, leading to increased overdoses and deaths in recent years. My agency is committed to stopping those who are profiting while putting Oklahoma lives at risk.”

Rosado will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence.

“I commend the work of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics in dismantling Cruz Rosado’s cocaine distribution operations, and taking a drug dealer off the streets,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson.