Lawrence Man Sentenced To 150 Months For Participating In Fentanyl Trafficking Conspiracy

           Concord – United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Jesus Rivera, 21, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 150 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl.

           According to court documents and statements made in court, a drug trafficking organization employed the defendant to sell fentanyl to customers from various New England States, including New Hampshire.  On each day that the defendant worked, the organization provided him with at least one 200-gram bag of fentanyl and expected him to sell it and return approximately $6,000 in proceeds. In addition to Rivera, 33 defendants have been charged with participating in this conspiracy.

           Rivera previously pleaded guilty on March 8, 2019. 

           “Fentanyl is not manufactured in New Hampshire,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “This deadly drug is introduced into the state by traffickers and the results have been devastating. In order interrupt this lethal supply chain, we will continue to be aggressive in our efforts to prosecute and incarcerate fentanyl traffickers.”

           “Illegal drug distribution ravages the very foundations of our families and communities, so every time we take fentanyl off the streets, lives are saved,” said Brian D. Boyle. “Let this sentence be a warning to those traffickers who are coming from out of state to distribute this poison, that DEA and its local, state and federal partners will do everything in our power to bring you to justice.”

          This investigation was conducted 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.

          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 and Seth R. Aframe.

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