'El Chapo' Of Cape Cod Nauti-Block Gang Pleads Guilty

BARNSTABLE, MA — A Hyannis woman and Nauti-Block gang member nicknamed after notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman now shares something in common with her namesake — a potentially lengthy prison sentence. Eelyese Mateo, 20, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to heroin trafficking and conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Mateo, who also goes by "El Chapo," was the girlfriend of Nauti-Block leader Denzel Chisholm and helped him transport heroin in and out of Cape Cod, prosecutors said. She faces a prison sentence of 3-20 years and fines of up to $1 million. She will be sentenced April 13. The real El Chapo is in federal custody and faces life in prison and $10 billion in fines.

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Mateo was one of 13 Nauti-Block gang members arrested in April 2016, prosecutors said, adding the gang ran amok on the Cape — dealing drugs, running guns and murdering a government witness. Chisholm was charged with murder in the September 2015 revenge killing of Christine Ferreira, a 30-year-old Barnstable woman who testified against the gang in 2011, prosecutors said.

"(Nauti-Block gang members) are responsible for a significant quantity of the heroin that has been distributed on Cape Cod," former U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement last year.

Mateo admitted to storing heroin at her Hyannis home. The gang's heroin could be identified by its blue tint, prosecutors said.

The same day Mateo is sentenced, Chisholm will be arraigned on federal drug charges as his murder case in state court progresses.

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13 Nauti-Bock Gang Members Arrested On Cape Cod: Police

Photo: Guns and drugs seized from Nauti-Block gang members in April 2016, according to prosecutors. (Credit: U.S. Attorney's Office-Massachusetts)