CONCORD, NH- - Rafael Benitez, 45, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and the unlawful distribution of more than 280 grams of cocaine base (“crack”) following a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.

            Benitez was originally indicted on the charge by a federal Grand Jury in May, 2011. Trial testimony identified Benitez as the head of a drug organization that distributed quantities of “crack” throughout the Drum Hill area of Chelmsford/Lowell, Massachusetts, and in Nashua, New Hampshire during the last five years. Benitez’s organization delivered “crack” to customers in Nashua using “runners” to sell the drugs in and around the Pheasant Lane Mall.

            Benitez is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20, 2012, and is facing a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of ten years and a two million dollar fine. Upon release from prison, Benitez is subject to deportation to the Dominican Republic.

 The investigation was conducted by the United States Attorney’s Office, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Nashua, New Hampshire, Police Department, and the Lowell, Massachusetts, Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Cole Davis and Seth R. Aframe. 

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