Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that FREDDIE GONZALEZ, the leader of a cocaine distribution conspiracy in the Bronx in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to life in prison for his participation in four murders that were committed in connection with his cocaine trafficking business. GONZALEZ was found guilty in January 2012, after a two-week jury trial, of committing, and aiding and abetting the commission of, four murders while engaged in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Specifically, he was convicted for his participation in the 1990 murders of Carmelo and Marisol Gonzalez (no relation to GONZALEZ), Clement Bedword, and Carlos Polanco. GONZALEZ was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin.