Hyannis Man Sentenced for Firearm Offense

BOSTON – A Hyannis man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for conspiring to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Benjamin Roderick, 21, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to 14 months in prison and two years of supervised release.  In September 2016, Roderick pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Roderick was one of 19 members and associates of the Cape Cod-based Nauti Block gang named in an October 2016 superseding indictment with various drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms offenses.  

On March 7, 2016, during an investigation into the gang’s operations, federal investigators intercepted telephone calls and text messages in which Roderick was planning to supply co-defendant Christopher Wilkins with a .38 caliber firearm in exchange for approximately 10 grams of heroin. Law enforcement officers followed Roderick and stopped his vehicle as he went to meet Wilkins to conduct the trade. The officers arrested Roderick and seized the firearm loaded with five rounds of ammunition.

In May 2017, Wilkins pleaded guilty to 15 counts of drug, money laundering, and firearm offenses and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 18, 2017.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe; and Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen and Miranda Hooker of Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.