BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A Lawrence man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to fentanyl distribution charges.
Rafael Sierra-Baez, 42, pleaded guilty on Nov. 28, 2022 to distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for March 28, 2023. Sierra-Baez was arrested and charged on May 19, 2022.
On five separate occasions between Feb. 22, 2022 and May 4, 2022, Sierra-Baez sold suspected fentanyl to a law enforcement cooperating witness in Methuen.
The charge of distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Dell’Anno of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
