A Fall River man with more than 15 criminal convictions on his record was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison for selling handguns and cocaine to a cooperating witness during a months-long undercover investigation. Carlos Perez, 40, was sentenced in federal court in Boston to five years behind bars followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty in April to four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and one count of distributing cocaine.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani handed down the sentence, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Reynolds III of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit prosecuted the case as part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative aimed at violent crime and illegal firearm distribution nationwide. As 1420 WBSM reports, Perez was arrested and charged with the gun and drug offenses in November 2025.
The federal investigation that led to Perez's arrest was a joint effort involving the ATF Boston Field Division, Massachusetts State Police, and police departments in Fall River and New Bedford. Undercover operations recorded four separate sales between May and August 2025: a .45-caliber pistol sold alongside cocaine on May 5, a Sig Sauer P230 SL .380-caliber pistol on June 2, a Ruger MAX-9 9mm on June 30, and a Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Shield 9mm on August 27. Each transaction involved a cooperating witness, and Perez was legally prohibited from possessing any firearm or ammunition because of his prior felony convictions.
A Record Stretching Back Nearly Two Decades
Perez's adult criminal history includes 61 charges and over 15 convictions, according to the same WBSM report. In 2008 he was convicted twice of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, receiving a two-year suspended sentence in one case and serving six months in the house of correction in the other. In 2015, he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute a Class A substance and served two years in the house of correction.
Under federal law, a felon-in-possession charge carries a statutory maximum of up to 15 years in prison, while cocaine distribution carries a maximum of up to 20 years, per the Justice Department. Perez's five-year sentence falls well below those ceilings, reflecting how federal judges weigh statutory guidelines alongside plea negotiations when determining a final term.
Part of a Broader Federal Push in Fall River
Perez's case is not an isolated one. Federal prosecutors in Boston filed similar charges under Operation Take Back America against Fall River resident Antonio Calderon in November 2025 for repeat drug distribution offenses. The Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which the Bureau of Justice Assistance says aligns with Operation Take Back America, coordinates federal, state, and local strategies specifically against violent repeat offenders. By shifting repeat state offenders into federal court, prosecutors gain access to sentencing guidelines that carry no possibility of state parole, an approach aimed at reducing street-level violence and illicit gun trafficking in the city.
Locally, Fall River police lean on their Community Action & Suppression Team, known as CAST, a specialized proactive patrol unit that executes search warrants and targets illegal narcotics and firearm dealing, as Hoodline previously reported. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 269 Section 10 imposes its own strict penalties and licensing requirements for firearm possession, a framework federal authorities often build upon when bringing indictments that carry stricter sentencing without the option of state parole.
Perez's sentencing adds to a string of recent Fall River cases involving guns and drugs. In December 2025, Hoodline reported on a separate Fall River felon who pleaded guilty to selling deadly drugs and trafficking illegal firearms over Telegram. CAST operations have also turned up a ghost gun and fentanyl cache on Forest Street in March and a Glock and fentanyl during a late-night raid on Peckham Street earlier that same month, underscoring how often local, state, and federal agencies are working the same streets to get guns and narcotics off them.
