Massachusetts man sentenced to prison due to drug and violent crime activity throughout the state

BOSTON – A Massachusetts man was sentenced for racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracies stemming from his involvement in the street gang, NOB.

27-year-old Joshua Teixeira, a/k/a “Trouble,” of Boston was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to seven years in prison and three years of supervised release. In April 2022, Teixeira pleaded guilty to one count of RICO conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Teixeira is one of 10 defendants indicted in June 2020 as part of a federal sweep targeting numerous NOB street gang members and associates, all of whom have pleaded guilty to various charges and are scheduled to be sentenced in the upcoming months.

According to court documents, NOB – an abbreviation for the Norton/Olney/Barry streets in Dorchester – is a violent criminal enterprise whose members and associates are involved in numerous types of criminal activities throughout Massachusetts, including murders, attempted murders, armed robberies, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and illegal firearms offenses. In addition to multiple firearms and drugs recovered during the investigation, numerous contraband items including 11 firearms, over one kilogram of fentanyl (including over 2,000 fentanyl pills manufactured to appear as commercial oxycodone pills), a commercial pill press, over 15 pounds of marijuana and approximately $36,000 in cash were also seized.

According to the Department of Justice, Teixeira was an active and central member of the NOB gang who personally committed, planned and supported various crimes on behalf of the NOB gang including drug trafficking activities involving multiple pounds of marijuana. In May 2018, Teixeira drove with two other NOB members/associated into a rival gang territory during ongoing hostilities between the gangs. Teixeira was armed with a 9mm handgun and fired at least six rounds at a group of people in a residential neighborhood, leading to an exchange of gunfire. No one was hit by Teixeira’s gunfire. The Court determined this conduct constituted attempted murder and took it into consideration at sentencing.

First Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Douglas Bartlett, Acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro; Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan; Randolph Police Chief Anthony Marag; Brockton Police Chief Brenda Perez; Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara; Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins; Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald, Jr.; Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III; and Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick W. McDermott made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Crowley and Sarah Hoefle of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit prosecuted the case.