Skip to main content
Press Release

Abington Man Sentenced for Fentanyl Distribution

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – An Abington man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for fentanyl distribution. 

Edrick Firmin, 21, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In October 2018, Firmin pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl. In August 2018, Firmin was arrested and charged with 28 others as part of Operation Landshark.

On June 15, 2018 and June 19, 2018, Firmin distributed less than four grams, in total, of fentanyl to a cooperating witness in Brockton. The government also alleged that Firmin was an associate of the Cubs gang in Brockton.

Operation Landshark was a federal investigation that targeted impact players and repeat offenders in Brockton and Boston, who have prior convictions for acts of violence. It is alleged that many of the defendants charged in Operation Landshark were in the top 30 criminal offenders responsible for violent acts and firearms in Brockton.

Of the 29 defendants arrested, 23 were charged federally and six were charged with state drug and firearm offenses. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz; Suffolk County District Attorney John D. Pappas; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; and Brockton Police Chief John Crowley made the announcement today. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s North Shore Gang Task Force and Southeastern Massachusetts Gang Task Force. Valuable assistance was provided by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Plymouth and Essex County Sheriff’s Offices; Massachusetts Department of Corrections; U.S. Parole Commission; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the U.S. Secret Service. The state cases are being prosecuted by the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

Updated December 21, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods