9/30/21
BOSTON – A Dominican national was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his involvement with a drug trafficking organization based in Lawrence.
Leisy Baez-Zapata, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to time served (approximately 26 months in prison). Baez-Zapata will be subject to deportation proceedings.
On April 21, 2021, Baez-Zapata pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
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According to court documents, in October 2018, federal agents began investigating a Lawrence-based drug trafficking organization that distributed fentanyl in the Lawrence area of Massachusetts.
Between October 2018 and July 2019, agents used a cooperating witness to make controlled purchases of fentanyl from the drug trafficking organization. On July 25, 2019, Baez-Zapata delivered approximately one kilogram of fentanyl as part of one of those controlled purchases.
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. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea Porter of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.