Taunton and Berkley men charged with drug trafficking

BOSTON – Two Massachusetts men were charged in federal court in Boston yesterday with drug trafficking for their roles in a cocaine conspiracy.

John Jones, 42, of Taunton, and John Fisher, 46, of Berkley, were charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Jones is in state custody pending trial in another matter, and Fisher was arrested on April 11, 2019, and is in currently in custody. Fisher and Jones will appear for arraignment in federal court on April 16, 2019.

The charges are the result of a nine-month investigation aimed at attacking the increased volume of cocaine flooding Southern and Central Massachusetts. Ten defendants were charged in this conspiracy in April 2018, eight of whom have since pleaded guilty. Jones and Fisher are alleged to have been kilogram-level redistributors of a lucrative and sophisticated drug trafficking and distribution ring in the region.

The drug statute provides for a sentence no greater than 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; and Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren A. Graber of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.