BOSTON - John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Boston Field Division and United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, announced that a Dennis man was sentenced today for distributing heroin that resulted in the death of a 20-year-old Cape Cod woman.
Joshua Johnson, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 97 months in prison, to be followed by six years of supervised release. In November 2010, Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute and distribution of heroin that resulted in the death of a 20-year-old woman from Brewster, Massachusetts. Another co-defendant, David Geoffrion, pleaded guilty to the same charges in March 2011. A third co-defendant, Maximo Laryi Herrerra Pena, pleaded guilty in February 2012 to participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin with various individuals, including Johnson and Geoffrion.
Johnson was an addict who actively distributed heroin on Cape Cod during the summer of 2009. On July 30, 2009, Johnson obtained heroin from co-defendant Pena, who was one of Johnson’s heroin suppliers. Later that day, Johnson and co-defendant Geoffrion sold a small portion of that heroin to the victim, who used the heroin several hours later and died in her bedroom. The subsequent autopsy confirmed that the heroin sold by Johnson and Geoffrion played a significant causal role in the victim’s death. In October 2012, Pena was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Geoffrion is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14, 2012.
Assistance investigating this case was also provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Brewster Police Department.
