Miramar man sentenced to over 12 years in prison for drug trafficking, feds say
A Miramar man was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after multiple arrests on drug charges that cross state lines, according to federal officials.
Kirby Pata, 40, led a multistate drug trafficking operation that moved drugs from California to states including North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, using drug couriers, or “mules,” to transport the shipments, according to a July 7 news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
A federal judge in North Carolina sentenced him to over 12 years for conspiracy to distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine and conspiracy to possess with the intent to sell more than 50 grams of meth.
His most-recent arrest was in 2025, when federal agents say he mailed more than three-quarters of a pound of methamphetamine to a man in Virginia.
After law enforcement conducted surveillance, that man was arrested.
Starting in 2022, multiple law enforcement agencies learned that “Pata shipped drugs from the west coast to the east coast and then up and down the eastern seaboard,” the release said.
In April 2022, Pata had help moving 13 pounds of cocaine. In February 2023, one of his couriers moved 8 pounds for him.
Others involved eventually served time in federal prison for working under Pata’s “drug distribution organization,” federal officials said.
The investigation involved the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, Nash County (North Carolina) Sheriff’s Office and Nashville (Tennessee) Police Department.
Pata served time in federal prison in 2012 for aggravated identity theft, records show.
