Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

BOSTON – A Dominican national formerly residing in Methuen pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to federal drug charges.

Jorge Luis Nunez Martinez, who used the name William Matos, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, and crack. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for March 15, 2018.

In October 2015, a confidential source reported that an individual named Javier Gonzalez Marcano was operating a large-scale drug trafficking organization in and around Lawrence and Lowell.  The subsequent investigation revealed that Martinez was a runner for the Gonzalez Marcano drug trafficking organization.  In October 2016, Martinez assumed control over the drug trafficking organization when Gonzalez Marcano returned to the Dominican Republic.  Martinez and Juan Rodriguez Castro, another runner for the Gonzalez Marcano drug trafficking organization, were arrested in March 2017. 

In June 2017, Rodriguez Castro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, and crack.  Gonzalez Marcano is presently a fugitive.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $1 million. Martinez will face deportation upon completing his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Miranda Hooker of Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.