Wilson Garcia admits to drug trafficking in R.I. while awaiting trial in Mass. for allegedly selling heroin
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Wilson Garcia, 33, of, Providence, pleaded guilty in federal court in Providence today to trafficking heroin and fentanyl. Garcia admitted to the court that on multiple occasions he sold heroin and fentanyl in Rhode Island while on bail and awaiting trial in Massachusetts for allegedly trafficking heroin.
Wilson, appearing before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., pleaded guilty as charged in a federal indictment returned on Feb. 16, 2016, to five counts of distribution heroin, one count of distribution of fentanyl, and one count of distribution of heroin aiding and abetting.
Garcia’s guilty plea is announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of DEA in New England.
According to information presented to the court, on April 9, 2014, Wilson Garcia was arrested on a heroin trafficking charge brought in Wrentham District Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a result of an investigation conducted by the Norfolk County Police Anti-Crime Task Force. When it was determined that Garcia was continuing to sell heroin while on bail and awaiting trial in Massachusetts, a subsequent investigation was launched by the DEA Task Force 1 in Boston.
During the course of the subsequent investigation, between December 2014 and September 2015, an undercover DEA Task Force agent arranged for the purchase of heroin from Garcia on at least six occasions and the purchase of fentanyl on at least one occasion. Six of the deliveries were made to the agent by Garcia at Twin River Casino in Lincoln. One delivery was made to the agent at Garcia’s Providence residence. The transactions resulted in the purchase from Garcia of a total of 20.7 grams of heroin for $2,200 in cash and 2.1 grams of fentanyl for $280 in cash.
Garcia, who was detained in federal custody at the time of his arrest on Sept. 23, 2015, and subsequently released on $5,000 bond with surety, remains free on $5,000 bond pending sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., on Aug. 23, 2016.
The case in U.S. District Court in Providence is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys