Salvadoran National Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Fentanyl

BOSTON – A Salvadoran national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Worcester to distributing fentanyl.

Nelson Garcia Martinez, a Salvadoran national previously residing in Stockton, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for July 22, 2021. Garcia Martinez was charged and arrested in November 2018.

Garcia Martinez was arrested on Nov. 13, 2018, after federal agents conducting surveillance at a rest stop in Sturbridge observed Garcia Martinez meet with two unidentified individuals outside of Garcia Martinez’s tractor trailer. When the two unidentified individuals left the area, law enforcement attempted to stop their vehicle, but they fled. When they did finally pull to the side of the road, the passenger exited the car and discarded a vacuum sealed garment bag and then fled into the surrounding woods, while the driver of the car fled the scene at high speed. The garment bag burst open on the ground, and agents recovered 15 kilograms of a substance that tested positive for fentanyl. Garcia Martinez consented to a search of his tractor trailer, where vacuum sealed bags matching the one discarded on the side of the road were recovered.

Law enforcement were led to Garcia Martinez after discovering a phone number, later determined to be associated with the defendant, that was believed to be used by a drug transporter related to an October 2018 seizure of 32 kilos of fentanyl in Methuen.

The charge of distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Somerville, Medford, Boston, Ipswich, and Arlington Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nadine Pellegrini and Katherine Ferguson of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.