Dorchester Fentanyl Kingpin Sentenced to 6 Years for Trafficking Counterfeit Pills

A brazen attempt at peddling poison has been slapped with the book, as a Dorchester man has been sentenced to six years in prison for manufacturing and distributing thousands of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl.

Rahelin Reynoso, 34, a Dominican Republic native with a penchant for pill pressing, was hit with the six-year sentence by U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley. The sentence also includes two years of supervised release.

The scheme, which was allegedly hatched between September and November 2022, saw Reynoso working at a Mattapan pill press location, churning out fentanyl-laced pills by the kilogram. These counterfeit pills were then packaged and shipped to unsuspecting customers across the United States.

But the operation was short-lived, as authorities descended upon the apartment where Reynoso worked in November 2022. What they found was a stash of over 20 kilograms of pills, 20 kilograms of loose powder, and three industrial-grade pill presses. The haul also included heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, with a whopping 12 kilograms of fentanyl seized.

The case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Mackenzie Duane and Jennifer Zacks, is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. This multi-agency approach has been instrumental in taking down high-level criminal organizations threatening the nation.

Reynoso’s sentence serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of fentanyl-laced pills and the importance of law enforcement’s efforts to disrupt and dismantle these deadly operations. As the Grimy Times continues to shed light on the dark underbelly of crime, one thing is clear: those who peddle poison will be held accountable.