A Texas man has pleaded guilty to a high-stakes oxycodone conspiracy that sent pills flowing through southeastern Massachusetts and beyond, federal authorities announced.
Christan Russell, 33, of Tomball, Texas, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone pills and structuring cash transactions. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Feb. 5, 2025.
Russell was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2023, along with five co-conspirators. As part of his plea, Russell agreed to forfeit $860,833.00; four firearms and four bank accounts.
Between approximately February 2023 and July 2023, Russell supplied oxycodone pills to co-conspirator Kenneth Veiga, who then redistributed those oxycodone pills to Austin Gonsalves and John Campbell. Russell obtained these pills from a variety of sources in the Houston, Texas area.
On March 13, 2023, Russell traveled from Houston to Boston to meet with Veiga. Russell met with Veiga in a hotel room in Rhode Island that Russell had rented. During that meeting, Russell supplied oxycodone pills to Veiga, and Veiga provided cash in exchange. On March 14, 2023, the defendant engaged in four structured cash deposits at ATMs in the Boston area.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone pills provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. The charge of structuring cash transactions provides for a sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.
Defendant Information:
Defendant Name: Christan Russell
City and State: Tomball, Texas
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone pills and structuring cash transactions
Exact Date: August 2023 (indictment), February 5, 2025 (sentencing)
Sentence or Outcome: Sentencing scheduled for February 5, 2025
Dollar Amounts: $860,833.00 (forfeited), four firearms, four bank accounts
Additional defendants, including Kenneth Veiga and Austin Gonsalves, have pleaded guilty and received sentences of 60 months and 41 months in prison respectively.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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