Ex-NYPD Officer Who Sold Fentanyl and Heroin on Duty Gets Five Years in Federal Prison
A former NYPD officer who sold heroin and fentanyl while still wearing the badge has been sentenced to federal prison, closing out a case that began with her October 2023 arrest.
Grace Rosa Baez, 38, of the Bronx, and Cesar Martinez, of Yonkers, were charged in Manhattan federal court after a federal narcotics sting. Both initially pleaded not guilty, but Baez later admitted her role, pleading guilty to a drug-distribution conspiracy. The case was announced by Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and investigated by the FBI and the NYPD itself.
According to court filings, Baez joined the NYPD in 2012 but had been placed on modified desk duty in 2020 while under a departmental misconduct investigation. On three occasions in October 2023, while still on duty at an NYPD facility, she sold packages to a confidential source working with law enforcement — in total more than one kilogram of heroin, over 400 grams of fentanyl, and over 100 grams of a fentanyl analogue (para-fluorofentanyl). Prosecutors said she handed the source a sample of what she called « top quality » fentanyl tucked inside a Mentos candy container, negotiated prices and quantities, and at one point offered to sell two kilograms of fentanyl for $30,000 per kilogram and a kilogram of heroin for $25,000.
Baez and Martinez, who were romantically involved and shared the Yonkers apartment where several of the deals took place, were arrested on October 19, 2023. As agents moved in, a package of suspected narcotics was thrown from the apartment; inside, investigators recovered more suspected drugs and a « kilogram press machine » used to compress powder into bricks. Baez resigned from the NYPD upon her arrest. She was later released on a $100,000 bond with home detention, while Martinez was held in custody.
Guilty Plea and Sentencing
On April 16, 2024, Baez pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and para-fluorofentanyl — a charge carrying a maximum of 20 years. Her plea deal took an otherwise-applicable 10-year mandatory minimum off the table, with the parties contemplating a sentence in the range of roughly 57 to 71 months. « Rather than protect and serve the people of New York City, former NYPD officer Grace Rosa Baez peddled deadly poison for personal gain, » Williams said. « Today, Baez is held accountable for her selfish and reckless betrayal. »
At her July 18, 2024 sentencing, prosecutors pushed for 71 months. Baez’s defense focused heavily on domestic violence, telling the court she had endured abuse during the relationship — she said she sometimes came to work with a bruised face, calling it « insane » — and asked the judge for home confinement rather than prison. Judge Cote accepted as fact that Baez had been abused, but pointed out that the badge « was abused too, » and sentenced her to 60 months — five years — in federal prison, set to begin on September 6, 2024.
The case stands as a stark example within The AEGIS Alliance’s Police Accountability coverage of an officer prosecuted for the very kind of drug trade police are sworn to fight. Fentanyl, often mixed into or sold as heroin, remains a central driver of the U.S. overdose crisis, which is part of why federal prosecutors treated an officer dealing it with particular severity.
