Evergreen Reporter

A former resident of North Andover was sentenced in a Boston federal court for his involvement in a multistate drug trafficking operation. Elvis DeJesus, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley to 15 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. In June 2024, DeJesus admitted guilt to a conspiracy involving the distribution and possession of fentanyl, cocaine, and other substances. He was charged in December 2021 with 20 other individuals.

The investigation into a network based in Lawrence began in May 2020. Communications from December 2020 to December 2021 showed the distribution of fentanyl and cocaine in the region. Cocaine from Puerto Rican suppliers was mailed to Massachusetts.

DeJesus, with co-defendants, operated a distribution business until his arrest on state firearms charges in August 2021. In 2021, several seizures were made: $75,930 in February, 978 grams of cocaine in April, and 200 grams from DeJesus’s associate, Othoniel Lara Gonzalez, in March.

Even while detained, DeJesus continued operations. In November 2021, over 500 grams of fentanyl and 100 grams of cocaine were seized from co-defendant William Rivadeneira. DeJesus had been recorded admonishing Rivadeneira regarding safety precautions in fentanyl preparation.

Further, DeJesus and his group paid Gregorit Sanchez, a former Corrections Officer, to smuggle fentanyl and other substances into his detention facility in November 2021. The contraband was confiscated upon Sanchez's entry attempt.

Several involved parties have been sentenced, including Luis Martinez to five years in February 2025, Othoniel Lara Gonzalez to three years in January 2023, and Sanchez to five years’ probation in June 2024. Rivadeneira is scheduled for sentencing on August 22, 2025.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative, aimed at dismantling significant drug trafficking and criminal networks through multi-agency collaboration. Key agencies involved included the Lawrence Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Massachusetts State Police, and the FBI, among others, with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Ferguson and J. Mackenzie Duane.