Taunton Man Sentenced for Heroin Trafficking

BOSTON –  A Taunton man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in a heroin and fentanyl trafficking operation in Taunton and surrounding communities.

Jorge Vega, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 77 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  In January 2017, Vega pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribution of heroin and fentanyl.

In October 2015, Vega was arrested and charged along with 24 others in connection with a heroin trafficking ring operating in southeastern Massachusetts.  An additional defendant was added in a superseding indictment filed on April 20, 2016.  The charges are the result of a 15-month investigation into heroin and fentanyl trafficking in Marshfield, Fall River, Taunton, and surrounding communities, which have seen a steep increase in overdoses and related deaths since 2013.  Vega bought heroin on many occasions both for his own use and to sell to others.

Twenty-two of the 26 defendants charged in the superseding indictment have pleaded guilty and 13, including Vega, have been sentenced.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas E. Kanwit and Karen Beausey of Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.