BOSTON – Dante Starks, a 40-year-old Cambridge man with a rap sheet stretching back two decades, was sentenced to four years in federal prison on July 8, 2022, for peddling cocaine. The sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, closes a chapter in a case that exposed Starks as a key player in Boston’s underworld.
Starks, also known as “Tay,” pleaded guilty in March 2021 to one count of distribution of cocaine. The bust stemmed from “Operation Landshark,” a wide-ranging federal investigation focused on repeat offenders in Brockton and Boston with histories of violence, firearms offenses, and drug trafficking. Investigators zeroed in on Starks as a “career offender” and an “impact player” due to his extensive criminal history.
The evidence revealed that in July 2018, Starks sold approximately 14 grams of cocaine to a cooperating witness in a Brockton parking lot. Crucially, Starks was already on probation at the time for a 2015 Suffolk Superior Court conviction for multiple drug distribution offenses, a crime for which he’d previously served a year behind bars. This wasn’t a first-time offense, or even a second.
Digging deeper, investigators unearthed a pattern of criminal behavior. In 2012, Starks was convicted in Plymouth Superior Court of drug distribution, assault and battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest – earning him a three-year prison sentence. Before that, in 2011, a Dorchester District Court conviction for drug distribution landed him a 30-month stint in prison. Even further back, in 2004, Starks was charged and fined for similar drug offenses. The man was a professional.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, led by Rachael S. Rollins, spearheaded the prosecution, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy E. Moran, Chief of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit, leading the charge. The investigation involved a massive collaborative effort from multiple agencies including the FBI, Massachusetts State Police, Plymouth County and Suffolk County District Attorneys’ Offices, and the Secret Service, among others. The operation was also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal initiative aimed at reducing violent crime through coordinated law enforcement efforts.
Beyond the prison sentence, Starks will face three years of supervised release. Whether this will be enough to deter a repeat performance remains to be seen. For now, another cog in the criminal machine has been temporarily removed from the streets of Boston, but the fight against drug trafficking continues. The investigation remains open, and authorities have not ruled out further charges against associates of Starks.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Press Release
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