Member of Taunton Drug Conspiracy Pleads Guilty to Distributing Heroin and Fentanyl

BOSTON – A former resident of Providence, R.I., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston for his role in a heroin and fentanyl trafficking organization that operated in Taunton and Boston.

Jose Arias, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. In February 2017, Arias was arrested and charged along with 22 other co-defendants.  U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Jan. 23, 2018.

From mid-2016 through February 2017, federal law enforcement investigated two drug trafficking organizations operating in Taunton and Boston led by Jose Antonio Lugo-Guerrero, 32, a Dominican national operating in Boston, and Fernando Hernandez, 42, a Dominican national residing in Providence, R.I.  Hernandez allegedly ran a heroin and fentanyl trafficking organization in Taunton, assisted by Arias, his son.  The organization sold heroin and fentanyl to customers who re-distributed the drugs.  It is alleged that Hernandez obtained drugs from a network of suppliers that included Lugo-Guerrero.

Lugo-Guerrero allegedly operated a drug trafficking organization in Fall River and Boston. 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.

The conspiracy charge 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.  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 Weinreb; Michael Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, 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 Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting 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.