LAWRENCE – A Lynn man has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to state prison in connection with running a major drug operation in which authorities seized more than 2,500 grams of the deadly drug fentanyl, more than 900 pills, two guns and more than $73,00 in cash, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.
Starling Guerrero, age 25, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Essex Superior Court to the charges of Possessing a Firearm During a Felony, Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, Trafficking 36 grams of Oxycodone, Possession with Intent to Distribute Morphine and Illegal Possession of Ammunition. Following the plea, Judge Joshua Wall sentenced Guerrero to serve seven to nine years in state prison, followed by three years of probation with the conditions that he seek and maintain employment and not possess weapons or firearms.
“We lose more people every day to the opioid crisis,” said AG Healey. “Last year, fentanyl was responsible for
more than half of the 2,000 lives we lost to opioid overdoses in Massachusetts. We are working hard with our law enforcement partners to go after drug trafficking networks that bring this deadly drug on to our streets and into the hands of those battling addiction.”
In June 2015, Guerrero was arrested in a joint operation involving Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General’s Office, the Massachusetts State Police Transportation Drug Unit, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Lawrence Police Department.
“Opioid abuse is at epidemic levels across New England and those suffering from the disease of fentanyl and heroin addiction need access to treatment and recovery,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson. “But those responsible for distributing lethal drugs like fentanyl to the citizens of Massachusetts need to be held accountable for their actions. DEA is committed to aggressively pursue anyone who distributes this poison in order to profit and destroy people’s lives. This investigation demonstrates the strength of collaborative law enforcement efforts in Massachusetts and our strong partnership with Attorney General Healey’s office.”
Massachusetts law enforcement has seen a significant increase in the presence of fentanyl, especially in drug overdoses and deaths.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health estimates that 2,069 people – the highest number ever recorded in the state and a 15 percent increase year-over-year – died from opioid overdoses in 2016. The number of deaths from opioid overdoses involving fentanyl continued to climb last year, with more than 60 percent of the fatal overdoses last year involving the lethal drug. Essex County is one of the counties in the state with the highest rate of overdoses.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin. Drug traffickers frequently mix the drug with heroin, without the knowledge of the buyer. It can be deadly in even low doses.
Legislation to criminalize the trafficking of fentanyl went into effect in February 2016. Prior to the law going into effect, drug traffickers could only be charged with the lesser crimes of manufacturing, distributing or possessing fentanyl, regardless of the quantity of the drug they were caught with.
Earlier this month, in her address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, AG Healey announced that her office is committing a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to a new Fentanyl Strike Force. In partnership with the Massachusetts State Police, the task force will target heroin and fentanyl traffickers and dismantle their distribution networks across Massachusetts. The funds will expand the AG’s Office’s own drug enforcement work – which has increased sixfold since 2015 – and to build enhanced partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Gina Kwon and Sara Shannon, both of AG Healey’s Enterprise and Major Crimes Division, with assistance from State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, the Massachusetts State Police Transportation Drug Unit, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Lawrence Police Department.
