Ozair Pereira, Fentanyl Trafficking, Massachusetts 2023

BOSTON – A repeat offender is headed back to prison for over a decade after continuing his criminal enterprise even while under court supervision. Ozair Pereira, 35, of Brockton, received an 11-year federal sentence Thursday for trafficking fentanyl, demonstrating a brazen disregard for the law and a commitment to profiting from a deadly drug epidemic.

Pereira was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 10 years imprisonment and an additional eight years of supervised release. The sentence stems from a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, as well as four counts of actual fentanyl distribution. Adding to his woes, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton slapped Pereira with a consecutive one-year term for violating the terms of his supervised release from a prior drug conviction.

This isn’t Pereira’s first rodeo. In 2018, he was arrested as part of a larger investigation into drug trafficking and violence plaguing Brockton. Wiretaps caught him ordering heroin from a supplier, leading to a guilty plea for conspiracy to distribute the drug and a 30-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release – terms he clearly ignored. The feds say Pereira didn’t learn his lesson.

Between February and March 2021, while still on supervised release, Pereira teamed up with co-defendant Robert Roscoe and others to push over 40 grams of fentanyl to both undercover agents and cooperating witnesses. The operation continued until authorities moved in to arrest him again. Roscoe, who previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy, received a 16-month prison sentence and three years of supervised release in October 2022.

The case was spearheaded by Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, with crucial support from James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Boston Division. Interim Colonel John E. Mawn, Jr. of the Massachusetts State Police, Brockton Police Chief Brenda Perez, and New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira also contributed to the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Pohl of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.

The sentencing of Pereira highlights the ATF’s ongoing commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks and holding accountable those who relentlessly pursue profit at the expense of public safety. The 11-year sentence sends a clear message: repeat offenders peddling fentanyl will face serious consequences in federal court.

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