BOSTON – A Dominican national previously deported pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
Jose Perez Felix, a/k/a “Eugenio Piedraita-Rivera,” “Roberto Patricio Ramirez,” “Grande,” 43, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, oxycodone and marijuana and one count of distribution of heroin. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Feb. 8, 2022. Perez Felix was charged in May 2019.
In 2018, federal and state law enforcement agents began investigating a violent Brockton drug crew headed by Djuna Goncalves. The investigation revealed that Goncalves and others distributed large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, cocaine base and marijuana throughout Southeastern Massachusetts from a base of operations in Brockton. The investigation also identified Perez Felix, a previously deported Dominican national, as a drug supplier to Goncalves and others. Intercepted communications from Perez Felix’s cellphone determined that he distributed large quantities of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine from a base of operations in Boston. On April 9, 2019, agents observed Perez Felix deliver heroin to a customer in Dorchester and subsequently seized 60 grams of a heroin-fentanyl mixture from the buyer. A search of Perez Felix’s residence in May 2019 resulted in the seizure of cell phones, materials commonly used to package drugs for street level sale, digital scales and a bag containing over 60 grams of a heroin-fentanyl mixture.
In all, 17 defendants, including Perez Felix, were indicted as part of a wide-ranging drug trafficking conspiracy reaching from Boston to Brockton to Cape Cod. Of the 17 defendants named in the indictment, nine have been sentenced. Perez Felix is the 14th defendant to plead guilty in the case.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, oxycodone, and marijuana provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. The charge of distribution of heroin provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Boston Police Acting Commissioner Gregory Long made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Pohl and Alathea Porter of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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