Groveton Woman Pleads Guilty to Participating in Fentanyl Trafficking Conspiracy

            CONCORD – Meredith Willey, 38, of Groveton, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, as a result of an on-going drug trafficking investigation, agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration learned that on March 1, 2018, an individual intended to travel from New Hampshire to a location in Lawrence, Massachusetts to purchase 250 grams of a controlled substance.  Agents conducted surveillance in the area of the transaction and observed a known drug trafficker get in the back seat of the car and exit a few minutes later.  The vehicle left Massachusetts and agents followed it directly to New Hampshire.

            The agents informed a New Hampshire State Trooper patrolling Interstate Route 93 about their surveillance observations.   The trooper stopped the vehicle for traffic violations.  Willey was a passenger in the vehicle.  Willey subsequently admitted that she and the driver went to Lawrence to buy “dope.”  Willey consented to a search of the car and signed a consent to search form.  The troopers found a hidden compartment containing approximately 240 grams of fentanyl.  Willey admitted that she and the driver purchased fentanyl in Lawrence and resold the drug in New Hampshire.

            Willey is scheduled to be sentenced on January 3, 2019.

            “Fentanyl continues to pose a significant threat to our state,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “We are committed to stopping the flow of fentanyl into New Hampshire.  Drug traffickers should understand that the law enforcement community is working hard each day to identify and prosecute those who are responsible for distributing this deadly drug in the Granite State.”     

            The case was a collaborative investigation that involved the DEA; the New Hampshire State Police; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; the Nashua Police Department; the Massachusetts State Police; the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office; the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; the Internal Revenue Service; Immigration and

            Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; United States Customs and Border Protection Boston Field Office; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the Manchester Police Department; the Lisbon Police Department; the Littleton Police Department; the Seabrook Police Department; the Haverhill (MA) Police Department; the Methuen (MA) Police Department; the Lowell (MA) Police Department; and the Maine State Police.

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Georgiana L. Konesky, Seth R. Aframe and Debra M. Walsh.

            This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.  

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