Mass. Drug Dealer Gets 10 Years In Federal Prison

CONCORD, NH — A Bay State man was sentenced to a decade in prison in U.S. District Court yesterday for his role in running drugs from Lawrence, MA, into New Hampshire. Martin Gonzalez-Diaz, 34, formerly of Methuen, MA, received the sentence after pleading guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to distribute in excess of one kilogram of heroin, quantities of fentanyl, and Oxycodone. Between Spring 2014, and January 2016, Gonzalez-Diaz and co-conspirator Juan Alexis Diaz Pena, who was sentenced to 96 months in prison in June, distributed drugs out of Lawrence into the hands of individuals who then sold the drugs in New Hampshire, primarily, Rochester.

As part of the investigation, in January 2016, the DEA searched an apartment connected to Pena and located quantities of cocaine, heroin, and items associated with drug trafficking, according to acting-U.S. Attorney John J. Farley. A loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered from under a mattress in a bedroom in close proximity to where the drugs were located.

“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to address the significant presence of heroin and fentanyl in New Hampshire,” Farley said in a statement. “We will continue to target drug trafficking organizations that are responsible for the importation of large quantities of these drugs into New Hampshire from source cities like Lawrence, Massachusetts.”

Pena was convicted of drug conspiracy and unlawful possession of a firearm.

After serving his sentence, Gonzalez-Diaz will be deported from the United States.

Along with the DEA, the Portsmouth, Rochester, and Haverhill, MA, police departments, and Mass. State Police, were all involved in the case, according to Farley.