BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.

BOSTON – A Fall River man was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with his role in a scheme to distribute over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana in the Fall River area.

Edward Boyer, 54, a former criminal defense attorney, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to nine years in prison, four years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $250,000.  Boyer pleaded guilty in October 2015 to conspiring to distribute marijuana and money laundering. 

Boyer, a former criminal defense lawyer, was disbarred after a state court conviction for interfering with a witness and bribery in 1997.  In 2012, federal agents determined that Boyer was regularly shipping packages containing $20,000 to post office boxes in Mendocino, Calif.  Surveillance and shipping records showed that Boyer was also regularly receiving large boxes from Mendocino.  In June 2013 and May 2014, federal agents obtained search warrants and seized packages destined for Boyer which contained 6-7 kilograms of marijuana.  Evidence from the investigation revealed that from 2012 to 2014, suppliers in California shipped over 1,500 kilograms of high-grade marijuana to Boyer who sold it in the Fall River area to a network of distributors.  Boyer shipped the proceeds back to the suppliers in California, totaling over $8 million, and used bank accounts to transfer the funds.

At today’s sentencing hearing, the Court found that Boyer was the leader of the organization and was responsible for the distribution of over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.  Boyer’s seven co-defendants, including three individuals from California, have also been convicted and are awaiting sentencing.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division;  Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Kristina O’Connell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenu Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Heinrich of Ortiz’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit.