One man died shortly after his April 4 arrest. Fifteen arrests made during two-month investigation into street-level drug dealing in downtown park.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Fifteen people, including a man who died in police custody April 4, have been arrested this month as part of a sting operation targeting drug dealers in Kennedy Plaza, according to the mayor’s office.

The arrests came after a two-month investigation into street-level drug dealing in the downtown park. Providence police conducted “a number of controlled purchases” from dealers in the area, Mayor Jorge Elorza’s office said in a news release.

The investigation showed that many of those arrested were traveling to Providence early in the morning to sell Klonopin, Xanax, amphetamines and cocaine, Elorza’s office said in the release.

In the city’s news release, 14 of those arrested were identified as facing felony charges of unlawful delivery: Ronnie Walker, 52; Clifford Ryerson, 60; Denise Fernandez, 35; Nelson Ramos, 27; Patricia Pennacchia, 33; Griselis Rodriguez, 49; Marc Anthony, 34; Ricky Henault, 52; Richard Hall, 44; Lee Gordon, 35; Jeremy Amaral, 41; James Coutcher; 48, Mark Clements, 35; and Robert Rebello, 32. City officials on Monday morning could not provide the communities of residence for those arrested.

Steven Mondon, 52, of Providence, was identified as the 15th person arrested in the sweep. Mondon was arrested April 4 and died in police custody shortly afterward.

He was taken to the Public Safety Complex minutes after he was arrested on charges that he was delivering illegal prescription drugs at 8 a.m. on April 4. He was being escorted to the cell block when he collapsed, Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré said. Firefighters attempted to revive Mondon and transported him to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The state medical examiner's office is performing an autopsy, but his cause of death was still pending as of Monday afternoon.

-jtempera@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7121

On Twitter: @jacktemp