Man arrested in massive Dominican Republic-to-Springfield drug ring pleads guilty

SPRINGFIELD – A 65-year-old man pleaded guilty to his role in a large-scale drug dealing ring that trafficked in dozens of kilos of heroin and fentanyl into the city.

Francisco Sandoval, of Lawrence, was one of 19 people charged by a federal grand jury in the drug conspiracy in 2016, according to court records. Monday, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl in federal court, court records said.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled his sentencing for July 9, 201. Sandoval faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million, said Christina DiLorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.

Sandoval admitted to receiving two kilograms of fentanyl from Alberto Marte, an alleged leader of a Springfield drug trafficking organization. Marte was also indicted in the ring, she said.

Feds bust ‘large-scale’ heroin mill responsible for putting lethal ‘Hollywood’ label on the streets

Agents began tracking the operation in early January, after a spate of heroin overdoses in Western Massachusetts.

The ring, with close ties to the Dominican Republic, was broken up by multiple law enforcement agencies working together during an eight-month investigation, officials said at the time of the arrests.

The defendants are accused of peddling a lethal batch of heroin that killed at least eight residents who overdosed on it in two months in 2015, law enforcement officials said.

Law enforcement officials raided multiple homes and at least one business when they made the arrests. They also seized more than three kilos of heroin.

The investigation was conducted with the cooperation of the Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Homeland Security, Massachusetts State Police and the Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee and West Springfield police departments.