Manchester Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Heroin Trafficking

             CONCORD – United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Alfredo Gonzalez, 50, of Manchester was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for his involvement in a heroin trafficking conspiracy.

            In November of 2017, a jury convicted Gonzalez of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with the intent to distribute, more than one kilogram of heroin.  

            Evidence presented at the trial established that Gonzalez was a Manchester-based heroin trafficker who purchased heroin from a Massachusetts-based drug trafficking organization run by Alberto Guerrero Marte.  The trial evidence proved that Gonzalez negotiated deals to obtain at least 1.4 kilograms of heroin in June and July 2016.  On July 10, 2016, surveillance agents followed Gonzalez from Manchester to a restaurant in Lawrence, where Gonzalez met Marte and others to conduct a deal for 500 grams of heroin.  A law enforcement officer later stopped a vehicle operated by a runner for Gonzalez and seized 504.4 grams of heroin.       

            After serving his prison sentence, Gonzalez will be on supervised release for ten years.

            “Those who choose to sell heroin and other dangerous drugs in New Hampshire will be held fully accountable for their actions,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “These drugs have caused tremendous harm to our community and continue to generate record numbers of overdose deaths.   In order to safeguard the lives and safety of our citizens, we will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to prosecute drug dealers to the fullest extent of the law.”

            “DEA is committed to investigating and dismantling Drug Trafficking Organizations and individuals like Mr. Gonzalez who are responsible for distributing lethal drugs like heroin to the citizens of New Hampshire,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle.  “Today’s substantial sentence not only holds Mr. Gonzalez accountable for his crimes but serves as a warning to those traffickers who are fueling the opioid epidemic with deadly drugs in order to profit and destroy people’s lives.  DEA’s top priority is combatting the opioid epidemic by working with our local, county, state and federal partners to bring to justice anyone who distributes this poison.”

            This matter was investigated by the DEA; Homeland Security Investigations; the Massachusetts State Police; the Haverhill Police Department; the United States Marshals Service; the New Hampshire State Police; the Manchester Police Department; the Lawrence Police Department; the Lowell Police Department, the Methuen Police Department, and the Hillsborough County Drug Task Force.  Assistant United States Attorney Donald A. Feith prosecuted the case.

            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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