Salem Man Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Prison for Drug Conspiracy and Possession Charges

BOSTON – A Salem, Mass. man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his participation in a North Shore-based drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed tens of thousands of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine and laundered the proceeds.  

Gino Castillo, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 37 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In April 2025, Castillo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Castillo was among 27 individuals charged, beginning in October 2022, in connection with a wide-ranging conspiracy to traffic counterfeit prescription pills. Castillo was charged, by indictment, on April 24, 2024. All 27 individuals have pleaded guilty; 22 have been sentenced.

The DTO distributed counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, among other drugs, to individuals in the Lynn area. In May 2022, Castillo bought 500 pills containing fentanyl from members of the DTO for redistribution to others. In October 2022, Castillo was observed assisting a DTO leader, Lawrence Michael Nagle Jr., with moving into an apartment on Phillips Street in Salem where drugs would be stored. During a search at the Salem location on Oct. 25, 2022 counterfeit pills were located in a safe in the bedroom and  hidden in the tank of a toilet.  

Lawrence Michael Nagle, Jr. pleaded guilty in April 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 5, 2025.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; and Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Beverly, Everett, Peabody, Revere, Salem, Saugus and Swampscott Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys K. Nathaniel Yeager, Samuel R. Feldman, John O. Wray and Alexandra Amrhein of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
        
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.