Man sentenced to prison on drug charges after investigation by South Coast and Rhode Island law enforcement agencies

BOSTON – A Providence, Rhode Island man was sentenced recently in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 32-year-old Yeury Garcia-Rodriguez was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to 25 months in prison and two years of supervised release. On May 9, 2023, Garcia-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. 

Between May 2021 and June 2022, Garcia-Rodriguez distributed fentanyl on at least four occasions to a government cooperating source on behalf of his co-defendant and co-conspirator Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara. In addition to delivering fentanyl for Ortiz-Alcantara, on two occasions, the defendant separately sold fentanyl to the cooperating source. The defendant told the cooperating source that he cooked, pressed, packaged and delivered fentanyl for Ortiz-Alcantara. Approximately 36 grams of fentanyl was seized from the defendant’s residence on July 19, 2022.

   Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara pleaded guilty on Dec. 14, 2024 and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9, 2024.     

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira; and Fairhaven Police Chief Michael J. Myers made the announcement today. Assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police; Homeland Security Investigations; Bristol County Sheriff’s Office; and Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro, Scituate, Yarmouth, Providence (R.I.) and West Warwick (R.I.) Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Mulcahy of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.