Edwin Otero, Heroin Trafficking, Massachusetts 2023

Three men have been sentenced to decades in prison for their roles in a Cape Cod drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed heroin throughout the Cape Cod and Pawtucket, R.I., regions. One of the key players, Edwin Otero, 33, of Hyannis, was sentenced to 38 years in prison by Judge Allison D. Burroughs on May 18, 2023.

Otero, along with Justin Joseph, 35, of Pawtucket, R.I., and Anthony Basilici, 39, of Pawtucket, R.I., were convicted of various charges, including conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, possession and discharge of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime, kidnapping conspiracy, witness intimidation, and witness retaliation conspiracy.

The investigation revealed that the trio distributed large quantities of heroin throughout Cape Cod, including in Hyannis, Mashpee, Centerville, Osterville, and in Pawtucket, R.I. In April 2019, Otero, Joseph, and Basilici lured a victim from Massachusetts to Rhode Island where they kidnapped and held him, stripped him naked, assaulted him with a hammer and threatened to rape him.

Otero, Joseph, and Basilici also armed themselves with guns and worked together to shoot at a Hyannis man over a drug debt owed to Otero in May 2019. The men were initially charged along with eight others in May 2019 on the drug conspiracy charges, and a total of 13 defendants were charged in this indictment.

A fourth defendant, Tony Johnson, 39, of Hyannis, was sentenced to 75 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring with Otero and others to distribute heroin. All 13 defendants charged in this indictment have now been sentenced.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Pohl and Lauren Graber of Levy’s Criminal Division. The investigation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/three-members-cape-cod-heroin-trafficking-ring-sentenced-prison-violent-kidnapping-and