Nelson Mora, Counterfeit Prescription Pill Trafficking, Massachusetts 2024

Counterfeit Prescription Pills Flood Lynn Streets as Man is Sentenced to 44 Months in Prison

A Lynn man, Nelson Mora, 31, has been sentenced to 44 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in a North Shore-based drug trafficking organization that distributed tens of thousands of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine.

According to federal authorities, Mora was among 23 individuals charged in October 2022 for their involvement in a wide-ranging conspiracy to traffic counterfeit prescription pills. The defendants were subsequently indicted along with two additional alleged co-conspirators in December 2022. Two additional defendants were indicted for money laundering in connection with the drug conspiracy in April 2024.

The DTO, led by co-defendant Lawrence Michael Nagle, distributed counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine to various individuals in the Lynn area. Mora had access to a pill press machine which he used to create counterfeit pills and sold 2,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to an undercover law enforcement officer in 2022.

In October 2022, several hundred pharmaceutical grade oxycodone pills were recovered during a search of Mora’s residence. Mora is the sixth defendant to be sentenced in the case, and authorities are working to dismantle the DTO and bring those responsible to justice.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division, and John E. Mawn Jr., Interim Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office and the Beverly, Everett, Peabody, Revere, Salem, Saugus and Swampscott Police Departments.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan D. Panich of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case. The effort is 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 using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

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