BOSTON – A Dominican national previously residing in Lawrence pleaded guilty and was sentenced yesterday for distributing fentanyl.
Steven de Jesus de Leon Trinidad, 22, pleaded guilty during a videoconference hearing to distribution of fentanyl. U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin then sentenced de Leon Trinidad to time served (approximately 11 months in prison) and three years of supervised release. De Leon Trinidad will face deportation proceedings.
On June 11, 2019, de Leon Trinidad sold fentanyl to an undercover agent in Lawrence. Law enforcement officers arrested de Leon Trinidad immediately following the sale, and he has been in custody since. A federal grand jury indicted de Leon Trinidad in July 2019.
This case is part of a coordinated enforcement operation in the Merrimack Valley called “Devil’s Highway.” The operation targeted the distribution of opioids, including fentanyl and heroin, and resulted in charges against a total of 40 people for federal drug offenses, with at least a dozen more individuals facing state charges.
United States Attorney Andrew Lelling and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucy Sun of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.