Lowell Man Pleads Guilty to Heroin and Fentanyl Trafficking

BOSTON – A Lowell man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to heroin and fentanyl trafficking charges.

Anderson Daniel Jorge Cruz, 21, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and fentanyl and other drug trafficking offenses. Cruz has been in custody since his arrest on Jan. 23, 2019, along with co-defendant Joshua Ramos-Rios. Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young on Jan. 14, 2020. 

On Jan. 23, 2019, law enforcement seized over one kilogram of suspected heroin and fentanyl from Cruz’s apartment in Lowell after an undercover operation. At the time, Cruz had an outstanding warrant for homicide in Allentown, Pa.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and fentanyl provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, a minimum of five years of supervised release and a fine of $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Division; Lowell Police Superintendent Raymond Kelly Richardson; and Colonel Kerry Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

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. The Department of Justice 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.