Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty in Texas-to-Pennsylvania Drug Conspiracy

ERIE, Pa. – A former resident of Lawrence, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating federal drug laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Wilson Enrique-Reyes, 33, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge David S. Cercone.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that from July 2014 through January 2015, Enrique-Reyes engaged in a conspiracy with two other individuals to distribute and possess with intent to distribute between 5 and 15 kilograms of cocaine. According to information provided to the Court, Enrique-Reyes worked with his associates to have kilograms of cocaine transported from Houston, Texas to Erie, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Further, the Court was advised that prior to his arrest in February 2015, law enforcement officers discovered that Enrique-Reyes and his associate in Erie, Pennsylvania, were working to modify an Audi vehicle with a hidden compartment large enough to conceal 10 kilograms of cocaine. When Enrique-Reyes was arrested in Lawrence, Massachusetts in February, 2015, the Audi vehicle, equipped with the electronically controlled hidden compartment, was found and was seized.

Judge Cercone scheduled sentencing for September 15, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of life in prison, a fine of $4,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Marshall J. Piccinini is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania State Police, U.S. Border Patrol, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Organized Crime Section, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Enrique-Reyes.