Man previously arrested for illegal re-entry, drug trafficking in Massachusetts, sentenced to time served

BOSTON – A Haitian man was sentenced on Friday in federal court in Boston for illegally reentering the United States.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 42-year-old Friendly Grandoit was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to time served (20 months in prison) and one year of supervised release. Grandoit will now be placed into removal proceedings that will likely result in his deportation. On Sept. 28, 2022, Grandoit pleaded guilty to one count of illegal re-entry into the United States after deportation.

In 2005, Grandoit was located in pre-trial detention by immigration officials while pending trial on drug distribution charges in Middlesex County. Grandoit was convicted in Sept. 2006 of trafficking in cocaine and sentenced to three years in state prison. Upon completion of his sentence, Grandoit was placed into removal proceedings and deported to Haiti in July 2008.

Sometime after his removal, Grandoit illegally reentered the United States. In Sept. 2019, Grandoit was arrested and charged in Woburn District Court with distribution of cocaine, identity fraud and operating with a suspended license and was ordered detained. In April 2020, Grandoit posted bail and was released from state custody. In October 2020, Grandoit was charged federally with illegal re-entry into the United States after deportation and was located by law enforcement in March 2021.

United States Attorney Rachael Rollins and Todd Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.