RI Man Sentenced For Trafficking Drugs Packaged With Children's Toys

PAWTUCKET, RI — A Rhode Island man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Boston for trafficking fentanyl and other drugs across the United States.

Prosecutors said Nathan Boddie, 38, of Pawtucket, participated in a drug trafficking conspiracy that spanned from Arizona to Massachusetts. Boddie along with co-conspirators Denise Guyette, 29, of Woonsocket, and Gerardo Garza, 47, of Yuma, Arizona, hid drugs in packages containing children's items such as toy trucks, Halloween decorations, and Disney items, according to prosecutors.

Boddie was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and three years of probation after pleading guilty in May to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

According to court documents, around April 2022, federal officers opened an investigation into a drug trafficking organization led by Guyette. Prosecutors said Guyette conspired with Garza, Boddie, and others to traffic various drugs — including methamphetamine, fentanyl pills, and cocaine, in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and elsewhere.

According to prosecutors, the drug trafficking organization used the mail to ship drugs from Arizona to Massachusetts, often hiding them inside children's toy packages.

Between May and October 2022, investigators seized seven packages containing more than 900 grams of methamphetamine, thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, as well as suspected Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a strong psychedelic drug.

Guyette was arrested on Feb. 8 and was detained following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston.

When Guyette was arrested, police seized about 15 pounds of methamphetamine and thousands of fentanyl pills weighing more than 400 grams from a safe in her bedroom, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said police also seized a digital scale as well as several Rhode Island and Massachusetts driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and credit cards in the names of other people.

A second search resulted in the seizure of two ghost guns, a 3-D printer used to print ghost gun components, about 150 grams of methamphetamine, and 10 different driver’s licenses, each bearing Boddie’s photo with names and addresses of other people, prosecutors said.

Boddie was arrested on Feb. 6 and is being held in state custody in connection to Rhode Island state charges. Boddie will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. Prosecutors said the arrest came after a traffic stop, where police seized a ghost handgun with five rounds of ammunition, an empty 9 mm magazine, and a 10-round magazine with one bullet loaded.
According to prosecutors, Boddie tried to swallow a plastic bag containing 20 grams of methamphetamine when officers searched him.

Garza was arrested on Feb. 10 in the Southern District of California and was detained pending a detention hearing. He will also appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

On Aug. 10, Garza pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging him and Guyette with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. Guyette has pleaded not guilty and is pending trial.

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