Jose Perez, Drug and Firearm Charges, Massachusetts 2024

Lynn Man’s High-Speed Escape Ends in 11-Year Prison Sentence

A Lynn man who attempted to evade police while driving a speeding vehicle has been sentenced to over 11 years in prison for drug and firearm charges.

José Pérez, 27, was driving a vehicle at speeds over 85 miles per hour on residential streets in Lexington, Mass., when police attempted to stop him. Instead of pulling over, Pérez accelerated and engaged in a high-speed escape attempt, crashing head-first into another vehicle and ultimately losing control and colliding into a post.

As Pérez exited the vehicle, a loaded Glock 34X 9mm semi-automatic handgun dropped to the ground. Pérez and his passenger, Henry Del Rio, then fled and led officers on a foot chase through a Stop and Shop parking lot. After officers apprehended Pérez and Del Rio, Pérez was found with over $2,000 cash in his pockets.

Officers also recovered a bag of cocaine and a bag containing 44 smaller, individually wrapped bags of fentanyl in Del Rio’s flight path, as well as a bag of cocaine in the vehicle Pérez had crashed. At the time, Pérez was on supervised release in connection with two prior federal convictions: one in 2017 for engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license, and one in 2020 for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and felon in possession of a firearm.

Pérez was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor to 142 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Pérez’s co-defendant, Henry Del Rio, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2025.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Lexington, Chelsea, and MBTA Police Departments and Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mike Crowley and Sarah Hoefle of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.

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