Roberto Anibal Nieves Zayas, Fentanyl Distribution, Rhode Island 2021
A Lawrence, MA resident has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in distributing thousands of fentanyl-laced pills in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Roberto Anibal Nieves Zayas, 38, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on January 20, 2022, to a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess fentanyl with the intent to distribute.
According to charging documents and information presented to the court, in April and May 2021, the DEA Rhode Island Drug Task Force arranged for deliveries of large quantities of fentanyl-laced pills.
On April 29, Nieves Zayas delivered 1,000 fentanyl pills in exchange for $5,000 in cash in a parking lot of a Pawtucket restaurant. The delivery occurred by one of two men who arrived in a car bearing Massachusetts license plates.
Task Force members watched as the delivery was made and quickly seized the drugs, while other agents followed the vehicle to an apartment complex in Lawrence, MA.
On May 24, 2021, the DEA arranged to purchase 25,000 fentanyl pills for $125,000. Two days later, as the delivery of the pills was taking place inside a passenger van in a parking lot of a Dorchester, MA, restaurant, DEA Rhode Island Task Force agents moved in and seized a large plastic garbage bag containing 3.4 kilograms of fentanyl pills.
Nieves Zayas and a co-defendant were arrested. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey A. Erickson.
The Rhode Island DEA Drug Task Force is comprised of personnel from the DEA; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; Rhode Island State Police; Cranston Police Department; Middletown Police Department; Newport Police Department; Pawtucket Police Department; Providence Police Department; Warwick Police Department; Woonsocket Police Department; and Amtrak Police.
Nieves Zayas was sentenced on April 4, 2024, by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to 84 months of incarceration to be followed by 3 years of federal supervised release.
The exact dates of the deliveries and arrests are as follows:
April 29, 2021: Nieves Zayas delivered 1,000 fentanyl pills in exchange for $5,000 in cash.
May 24, 2021: The DEA arranged to purchase 25,000 fentanyl pills for $125,000.
May 26, 2021: DEA Rhode Island Task Force agents seized a large plastic garbage bag containing 3.4 kilograms of fentanyl pills.
May 2021: Nieves Zayas and a co-defendant were arrested.
The amounts of drugs seized are as follows:
April 29, 2021: 1,000 fentanyl pills
May 26, 2021: 3.4 kilograms of fentanyl pills
The dollar amounts involved are as follows:
$5,000: Amount paid for 1,000 fentanyl pills on April 29, 2021
$125,000: Amount paid for 25,000 fentanyl pills on May 24, 2021
Key Facts
- State: Rhode Island
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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