BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A violent South Coast drug dealer was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston for the robbery of two large-scale oxycodone dealers and related narcotics crimes.
“The communities of the South Shore can rest assured knowing that this violent, high-level narcotics dealer will remain behind bars for an extended period,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “This case reflects our commitment to investigations and prosecutions of drug traffickers who flood our state with opiates and use violence to further their operations.”
“DEA is committed to investigating and dismantling violent Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO) like this one headed by Monteiro,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division. “The Monteiro DTO has been in operation for many years, poisoning the streets of the South Coast and Cape Cod with heroin. These are not low level incidents related to the throws of addiction. These were calculated, criminal acts committed by violent drug offenders. This investigation would not have been a success without the continued commitment of our state and local law enforcement partners.”
Francisco Monteiro, a/k/a “Cisco,” 34, of Bourne, Mass., was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 250 months in prison. Following a two-week jury trial, Monteiro was convicted in April 2014 of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, distribution of heroin, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and interference with commerce by threat or violence (a drug robbery).
Monteiro, a long-time South Coast drug trafficker, acquired drugs to sell through violent drug robberies. At trial, federal agents testified how, in February 2013, Monteiro was recorded agreeing to provide large quantities of heroin to a cooperating witness and then recorded Monteiro as he and two associates sold nearly 100 grams of heroin to a cooperating witness. When agents attempted to set up a second heroin purchase, Monteiro robbed the cooperating witness of the “buy money.” Monteiro was arrested three days later, at which time agents seized heroin, much of the stolen money, other drug trafficking materials, handcuffs, and brass knuckles from his home.
The jury also heard testimony concerning a 2011 robbery committed by Monteiro and several other men. In May 2011, Monteiro was confined to his home and monitored by a GPS device because of a pending state prosecution. Nevertheless, Monteiro and others lured Stanley Gonsalves and Joshua Gonsalves, two large-scale Cape Cod OxyContin dealers, to a meeting where the Gonsalves brothers believed they were purchasing 15,000 OxyContin pills. Instead, Monteiro and his crew robbed the Gonsalves brothers of the $225,000 they brought to purchase the pills.
Judge Casper previously sentenced Monteiro’s heroin trafficking co-defendants. In May 2015, Manuel Lopes was sentenced to 188 months in prison. In April 2015, Judge Casper sentenced Henry Parsons, the middle man in the sale, to 66 months in prison.
After a separate federal investigation, Stanley and Joshua Gonsalves were convicted of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and money laundering. Joshua Gonsalves was sentenced to 20 years in prison in January 2015. In June 2015, Stanley Gonsalves was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Attleboro Police Chief Kyle Heagney; and Taunton Police Chief Edward James Walsh, made the announcement. Significant assistance was also provided by the Barnstable and Bristol County Sheriffs’ Offices and the Barnstable, Bourne, Fairhaven, Fall River, New Bedford, and Wareham Police Departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Pohl and Timothy E. Moran of Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit.
