Eric Brando, Heroin Conspiracy, Massachusetts 2020

A Cape Cod man has been sentenced in connection with a heroin trafficking conspiracy that distributed large quantities of the drug throughout the region.

Eric Brando, 29, of Osterville, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 66 months in prison and six years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs on February 2020.

Brando pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin in February 2020. He is the first defendant to be sentenced in this case and the fourth to have pleaded guilty.

According to court documents, in 2019, law enforcement began an investigation into a Cape Cod drug trafficking organization allegedly led by co-defendant Edwin Otero. Interceptions from Otero’s phone identified Brando as a drug trafficker supplied by Otero.

The investigation revealed that members of the Otero crew shot at a drug customer over an unpaid debt and videotaped themselves beating another man they incorrectly believed had provided information to the police.

Brando’s sentence is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin provides for a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, at least four years of supervised release, and a fine of $5 million.