A 42-year-old Dominican woman has been hit with a heavy-duty prison sentence north of 11 years for her role in a large-scale fentanyl trafficking operation stretching from the streets of Massachusetts to the drug lords of Sinaloa, Mexico. Ana Checo, who was caught with a staggering seven kilograms of the deadly synthetic opioid, will now be spending 135 months behind bars, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston.
In handing down the sentence, which also includes five years of supervised release, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani seemed to fully back the zealous efforts of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy who said, "The devastating impact fentanyl continues to have on our communities cannot be overstated." Levy continued, vowing, "This sentence underscores our unwavering determination to identify and to bring to justice those responsible for putting deadly fentanyl on our streets." According to statements, Checo pleaded guilty on Sept. 6, to possession with intent to distribute significant amounts of fentanyl and valeryl fentanyl, as well as engaging in a money laundering conspiracy.
Federal agents have been waging a relentless war against the plague of opioids, and Checo's capture was a calculated strike against the network's financing. She was nabbed delivering over $58,000 in drug proceeds to an undercover officer back in June 2019, a move that landed her in the crosshairs of the DEA. "Fentanyl is causing tremendous damage to the state of Massachusetts," DEA Special Agent in Charge of the New England Division Brian D. Boyle said. "Let this sentence be a warning to those traffickers who are distributing this poison in order to profit and destroy people’s lives."
From stashed bags of narcotics in her and her daughter's bedroom closets to the hefty deliveries of cash to undercover agents, Checo's actions painted a clear picture of her involvement. She was caught attempting to deliver $250,000 in cash back in April 2020—that money would have been destined for money laundering. Instead, it was seized by the authorities. Over the course of April and May 2021, she was finagled into delivering an additional $200,000 to undercover agents posing as money launderers. And in a potentially fatal exchange that could have spelled disaster for countless lives, Checo received a suitcase filled with 55 kilograms of fentanyl—a haul with a street value of over $1 million—only for it to be seized on the same day.
The case against Checo, who kept detailed records of drug transactions dating back to 2017, was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Ferguson of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit, shedding light on the depth of the criminal network and the tenacity of the law enforcement pursuing them. The sentencing may be just part of an ongoing battle, but for now, one of the traffickers tied to inflicting untold misery through fentanyl distribution has been taken off the streets.
