Dominican National Sentenced for Heroin and Fentanyl Conspiracy

BOSTON – A Dominican national was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a heroin and fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that operated in Taunton and Boston.

Wilmi Hernandez-Diaz, 22, a Dominican national residing in Boston, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Hernandez-Diaz will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. In October 2017, Hernandez-Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. In February 2017, Hernandez-Diaz was arrested and charged along with approximately 20 co-conspirators.  

From mid-2016 through February 2017, federal law enforcement investigated two drug trafficking organizations operating in Taunton and Boston. Fernando Hernandez, a Dominican national residing in Providence, R.I., allegedly ran a heroin and fentanyl trafficking organization in Taunton. It is further alleged that Hernandez obtained drugs from a network of suppliers that included Lugo-Guerrero, a Dominican national, who operated a drug trafficking organization in Fall River and Boston. Lugo-Guerrero was assisted by Hernandez-Diaz and approximately seven others.  It is further alleged that Lugo-Guerrero and his associates obtained a significant quantity of illegal drugs by robbing other drug traffickers.

Hernandez and Lugo-Guerrero each pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Michael Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Fall River Police Chief Daniel S. Racine; New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro; Taunton Police Chief Edward James Walsh; Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans; and Bristol Country District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore B. Heinrich of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations.  The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.