Brockton Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking

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A Brockton man pleaded guilty Thursday to distributing fentanyl throughout southeastern Massachusetts.

Eric Marques, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for July 14, 2021.

In 2019 and 2020, law enforcement conducted an investigation into fentanyl traffickers operating in southeastern Massachusetts. A cooperating witness and undercover police officer purchased a total of 180 grams of fentanyl and 260 pressed fentanyl pills from Marques. Marques was arrested on March 16, 2020. A search of residences tied to Marques in Brockton and Bridgewater resulted in the seizure of $10,700 in cash, bags of fentanyl, a digital scale and other drug packaging materials.

The charging statute provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; William S. Walker, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Brockton Police Chief Emanuel Gomes; East Bridgewater Police Chief Paul O’Brien; John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; and Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Pohl of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

About Michael Silvia

Served 20 years in the United States Air Force. Owner of New Bedford Guide.

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