Man sentenced for trafficking heroin, elephant tranquilizer from Dominican to Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island

BOSTON – A Dominican man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for conspiring to traffic multiple kilograms of heroin and fentanyl from the Dominican Republic to states on the East Coast.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justic, 42-year-old Kelvin Regalado was sentenced on May 10, 2023 by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 87 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On Jan. 6, 2023, Regalado pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and 100 grams or more of carfentanil; one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute ketamine; and one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

Regalado was indicted in December 2020, along with co-defendant Marcos Cabrera, while he was residing in the Dominican Republic. Regalado was extradited to the United States in May 2022 after being taken into custody by Dominican authorities.

From August 2019 through March 2020, in the Dominican Republic, Regalado conspired with Cabrera to deliver nearly three kilograms of heroin and carfentanil to cooperating witnesses in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Additionally, Regalado arranged to have one kilogram of fentanyl and one kilogram of ketamine sent to the cooperating witnesses through the mail in Massachusetts.

In January 2022, Cabrera was sentenced to 87 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to his role in the conspiracy.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen W. Hassink of Levy’s Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit is prosecuted the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.