Man gets 30 years for cocaine distribution

RICHMOND - A man authorities credit with distributing almost a ton of cocaine in the eastern United States over 15 years will serve twice that long in federal prison. <br> <br> U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer on Thursday sentenced Nelson Rafael Zapata-Vicente, 36, to 30 years in prison. <br> <br> Federal prosecutors said Zapata-Vicente, who began dealing crack on the streets of New York in the mid-1980s, eventually became the main source of cocaine for high-level dealers in cities including Richmond, Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala. <br> <br> He was prosecuted in Richmond following an undercover operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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