The leader of a major cocaine trafficking organization involving more than two dozen suspects based in the Florida Keys has been sentenced to prison along with two others, authorities said.
John Robert Strama Jr., 44, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in the years-long conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said Tuesday.
Two other men – 38-year-old Pedro Luis Lugo Jr. and 34-year-old Elvis Lazaro Ruiz – were sentenced to 85 months, and 65 months in prison, respectively.
Strama and Ruiz had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, while Lugo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
Strama, also known as Johnny Gold Chains, was a member of an offshore powerboat racing team, JS Racing, and a former racer in the American Power Boat Association.
Authorities said he was a leader of the organization and obtained much of the cocaine he distributed by locating and recovering “floaters,” waterproof-wrapped kilogram packages of cocaine found at sea.
“A professional boat operator, Strama used his knowledge of local waterways, tides, and currents to recover dozens of kilograms of cocaine over the course of the conspiracy,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. “He then distributed the cocaine to co-conspirators and other buyers throughout the Florida Keys.”
FLORIDA KEYS DRUG TRAFFICKING BUST
The three men were among 27 charged in connection with the trafficking organization back in 2024. The suspects include Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority employees, commercial charter boat operators, and a former City of Marathon employee, authorities said.
The FBI was assisted by Homestead Police and Miami-Dade Police in the investigation, which started in 2020 and involved wiretaps as well as electronic and human surveillance.
Strama, Ruiz, and Lugo were held responsible for distributing between 15 and 50 kilograms of cocaine during the conspiracy.
So far, 25 of the suspects have been sentenced, and two others are scheduled to be sentenced.
“Fishing for ‘square groupers’ in the waters off the Florida Keys is not a harmless pastime; it is drug trafficking, and it carries serious consequences,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said. “These defendants recovered kilogram quantities of cocaine from the sea and distributed them throughout the Florida Keys for years. Their sentences send a clear message: whether drugs arrive by land, air, or sea, we will work with our law enforcement partners to find the traffickers, dismantle their networks, and bring them to justice.”
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