A 36-year-old man from Cranston, Rhode Island was handed a 22.5-year prison sentence for running a fentanyl trafficking operation; U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin ordered Jasdrual a/k/a Josh Perez to also serve five years of supervised release and pay a fine of $1 million. Perez was convicted for distributing fentanyl across multiple states including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York; part of his sentence includes the forfeiture of his rights to a residence used in the illegal operation, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Perez's operation involved industrial pill presses which produced counterfeit pills made to look like oxycodone or percocet, containing fentanyl, a substance implicated in over 2,000 deaths annually in Massachusetts alone and Perez was profiteering from the distribution of over 200 kilograms of this substance, through this sophisticated operation hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills hit the streets. Federal agencies, in collaboration with state and local law enforcement, conducted a search on February 7, 2022, at one of Perez's properties resulting in the seizure of two industrial pill presses and a significant amount of fentanyl, including over 50,000 such counterfeit pills.
The Justice Department's report explains that Perez tried to flee to New York after learning of the raids, during which he attempted to orchestrate another deal for 19,000 fentanyl pills, an attempt that was ultimately foiled as the drugs were seized; he was arrested on February 11, 2022. Additionally, last week, Perez's co-conspirator Erik Ventura was sentenced to 10 years for his involvement in the scheme and agencies involved in the investigation and apprehension of Perez include the IRS, DEA, FBI, as well as state and local police departments from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
This sentencing appears to deliver a strong message against the backdrop of a looming opioid crisis, with U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy emphasizing, "Fentanyl kills over 2,000 people a year in Massachusetts, that is unacceptable, Jasdrual Perez was running a business that pumped over 200 kilograms of this deadly poison onto the streets of Massachusetts and neighboring states, wreaking havoc and destroying lives," as part of a continued commitment by law enforcement to hold those responsible for perpetuating the crisis accountable. Perez's sentencing is tied to an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, aiming to unravel and penalize top-tier drug traffickers and criminal organizations working across jurisdictions.
