Two 19-year-old Lawrence, Massachusetts men sent to prison for fentanyl trafficking | Merrimack Valley

CONCORD — Two 19-year-old Lawrence, Massachusetts men have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for participating in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy.

Steven Guerrero received a term of five years and nine months while Julio Saldana was sentenced to 11 ½ years behind bars. Guerrero and Saldana pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, according to U.S. Attorney Scott Murray. 

A drug trafficking organization that authorities allege was led by Sergio Martinez employed Guerrero, Saldana and others to sell fentanyl to customers from various New England states, including New Hampshire, according to court documents.

On each day that the defendants worked, the Martinez organization provided them with at least one 200-gram bag of fentanyl and expected them to sell it and return about $6,000 in proceeds, according to U.S. Attorney Scott Murray.

While working for the Martinez organization, Saldana was robbed by a customer and thereafter acquired a firearm for his protection. On March 20, 2018, Saldana got into an altercation with rival gang members that resulted in a shooting, authorities said.

When Saldana was arrested on charges related to the shooting, officers recovered about 160 grams of fentanyl from his pocket, Murray said.

Guerrero and Saldana pleaded guilty Dec. 27. The case against them was the result of a collaborative investigation that involved the DEA, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine state police; the New Hampshire and Massachusetts attorneys generals’ offices; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; the Essex District Attorney’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service; the Manchester, Nashua, Lisbon, Littleton and Seabrook police departments in New Hampshire; and the Haverhill, Methuen and Lowell police departments in Massachusetts.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Georgiana Konesky and Seth Aframe.

“Fentanyl trafficking has had a terrible impact on the quality of life for many New Hampshire citizens,” Murray said. “In order to stop the transportation and sale of this deadly drug, we coordinate with all of our law enforcement partners to identify, prosecute and incarcerate those who are responsible for its distribution. Traffickers should expect to be caught, prosecuted and incarcerated on long prison terms.”

“Fentanyl is causing tremendous damage to New Hampshire,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “Let these sentences be a warning to those traffickers who are coming from out of state to distribute this poison in order to profit and destroy people’s lives. DEA’s top priority is combating the opioid epidemic by working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners.”