Massachusetts Man Who Conspired to Traffic Drugs in New Hampshire Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison

          CONCORD – Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced that on July 24, 2017, Martin Gonzalez-Diaz, 34, formerly of Methuen, Massachusetts, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute in excess of one kilogram of heroin and quantities of fentanyl and oxycodone.

          An offer of proof made during court proceedings established that from approximately the Spring of 2014 through late January of 2016, Martin Gonzalez-Diaz and his co-defendant, Juan Alexis Diaz Pena, conspired to distribute kilogram quantities of heroin and lesser quantities of fentanyl and oxycodone in the Lawrence, Massachusetts, area to individuals who in turn sold the drugs to New Hampshire based drug customers for re-distribution in Rochester, New Hampshire.

          Gonzalez-Diaz’s co-defendant, Pena, 31, also formerly of Methuen, Massachusetts, was previously sentenced to 96 months in prison on June 26, 2017, for his role in the drug conspiracy and for his unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

          As part of the investigation, in January 2016, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) searched an apartment connected to Pena and located quantities of cocaine and heroin and items associated with drug trafficking. A loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered from under a mattress in a bedroom in close proximity to where the drugs were located.

          “The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to address the significant presence of heroin and fentanyl in New Hampshire. We will continue to target drug trafficking organizations that are responsible for the importation of large quantities of these drugs into New Hampshire from source cities like Lawrence, Massachusetts,” stated Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley.

          After Gonzalez-Diaz completes serving his ten-year prison sentence, he will likely face deportation proceedings to remove him from the United States.

          This investigation was conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Tactical Diversion Unit, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; the Rochester, New Hampshire Police Department, and the Haverhill, Massachusetts Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Cole Davis and Seth Aframe prosecuted the case.

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