Taunton Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Heroin and Fentanyl Conspiracy

BOSTON – A Taunton man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston for his role in a heroin and fentanyl operation centered in Taunton.

Roger Longmire, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Dec. 4, 2017.

In February 2017, Longmire was arrested and charged along with nine others for his connection to Fernando Hernandez, 42, of Providence, R.I. who led a drug trafficking organization. An additional 12 defendants were charged with conspiring to distribute drugs for another organization led by Jose Antonio Lugo-Guerrero, 31, of Boston.

According to court documents, the organizations led by Lugo-Guerrero and Hernandez distributed heroin and fentanyl from the summer of 2016 until the time of their arrests. Hernandez’s heroin and fentanyl trafficking organization in Taunton allegedly sold heroin and fentanyl to customers including Longmire, who also re-distributed a portion of the drugs he obtained.

The charging statute provides 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 Ted Heinrich of Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.