Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 80 Months for Fentanyl Trafficking

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Rafael Buli, 24, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Jon D. Levy to 80 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, fentanyl, and aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.  The sentence is to be run consecutively to a three year sentence that Buli is currently serving in Massachusetts for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Buli pled guilty on February 2, 2018. 

Court records reveal that in 2016, Buli conspired with Wender Santos, a/k/a “Carlos,” and others to distribute fentanyl in the Lawrence area.  Maine drug customers contacted Santos who directed Buli to meet with them to consummate the drug transactions.  On September 1, 2016, federal and state agents stopped a Maine customer after Buli sold about 400 grams of fentanyl to the customer.  During the conspiracy, Buli was being electronically monitored (“EM”) by the Massachusetts Department of Probation, and the EM bracelet placed him at several controlled transactions conducted by federal agents.  Santos pled guilty on April 3, 2018 to the same charges and awaits sentencing.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maine State Police and prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.