A sixth man charged with participating in a drug ring that smuggled cocaine from Puerto Rico to Allentown, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday.

U.S. District Judge James Knoll Gardner heard the plea from Oswaldo Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty to distributing approximately one pound of the drug. He also helped Melvin Santiago, the drug ring's leader, by giving him tools used for "cutting" the cocaine, court documents say. In addition, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to supplying the house where the drugs were kept by paying for its rent.

Gonzalez joins five other members of the drug ring who have pleaded guilty since March of 2013. Santiago and Miguel Angel Soto-Perez were the only members of the drug ring who "pleaded guilty to the full range of charges in an indictment handed down in 2012," local newspaper The Morning Call reports. According to Sherri Stephan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Luis Monroig-Gonzalez, Louis Anthony Mendoza and Juan Mangual had less serious charges. All six men will face Judge Gardner at some point this year.

From March until August of 2012, a wire tap conducted by federal agents recorded over 1,300 of Santiago's cellphone calls. According to court documents, these calls provided evidence of Santiago organizing the cooking, cutting, pickup and distribution of the ring's cocaine product.

Particularly incriminating calls detailed a $22,500 deal Santiago made with Lonroig-Gonzalez to bring him a kilogram (a little more than two pounds) of cocaine from Puerto Rico. Apparently, he was having trouble finding supplies to supply his Allentown clients.

Santiago is a former member of the National Guard but is known to still claim the title. The court says that in July, Santiago showed his military ID to a state trooper in an effort to take the heat off of him. The military had already reportedly warned Santiago that this was a crime.

Albert Pons-Lugo and Ramon Reyes, two other men allegedly involved in the drug ring, will make their pleas when they go to trial on August 4. The court alleges that the men were the ones who received the cocaine in the mail and sold it to users in Allentown.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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