BOSTON – A Worcester man has confessed to peddling poison, admitting guilt to charges stemming from a fentanyl and heroin trafficking operation that stretched from the workplace to the streets. Freiber Betancourth, 30, pleaded guilty today, facing a potentially lengthy federal prison sentence for his role in flooding the region with deadly drugs.
According to court documents, Betancourth pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute fentanyl and heroin and one count of distributing fentanyl and heroin. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman has set sentencing for August 29, 2019. The details revealed a brazen operation conducted, in part, under the guise of legitimate employment. Betancourth wasn’t slinging dope on some shadowy corner; he was doing it from the parking lot of his workplace – a Massachusetts Department of Transportation / EZ Pass contractor in Auburn, Mass.
The investigation uncovered that between June and September 2018, Betancourth consistently distributed heroin and fentanyl to a known customer, even storing the drugs within his office. He wasn’t operating independently. The feds say Betancourth sourced his supply from Albeiro Gomez, 48, also of Worcester, who was indicted on May 16, 2019, on charges of distribution of heroin and fentanyl. Betancourth then passed the majority of the cash proceeds from the drug sales back to Gomez, cementing a clear supplier-dealer relationship.
This wasn’t a small-time hustle. Betancourth now faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 40 years behind bars. Beyond prison, he could be subjected to a minimum of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release. The financial penalty? A staggering $5 million fine. It’s up to Judge Hillman, however, to determine the final sentence based on federal guidelines and other factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, jointly announced the guilty plea. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police provided crucial support during the investigation, highlighting a collaborative effort to dismantle this drug operation. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill Abely and John Mulcahy of Lelling’s Criminal Division.
It’s important to remember that the information presented in the charging documents represents allegations. Both Betancourth and Gomez are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. But with a guilty plea now entered, Betancourth’s days of dealing death are numbered, and a reckoning is coming.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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