Illegal Alien, Carlos Soto-Villar of Lawrence Sentenced to More than 15 Yrs in Prison for Heroin and Fentanyl Trafficking

BOSTON – A Dominican national was sentenced yesterday in relation to the seizure of over 10 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin in December 2018.

Carlos Soto-Villar, 34, a Dominican national formerly residing in Lawrence, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to 188 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. In October 2020, Soto-Villar was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

According to the trial testimony, on Dec.  6, 2018, Soto-Villar supplied a kilogram of fentanyl to a co-defendant. The kilogram of fentanyl was later seized by police on Dec. 7, 2018.  A search at the Methuen apartment used by Soto-Villar and a different co-defendant as a drug stash house resulted in the seizure of over nine kilograms of fentanyl and heroin and drug processing equipment. Soto-Villar fled from the apartment and was apprehended a short distance away.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement. Assistance was also provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Methuen Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Ferguson, Deputy Chief of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda M. Ricci, Chief of the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit, prosecuted the case.

The operation was conducted by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply. More information on the OCDETF program is available here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.