CONCORD, N.H. - United States Attorney Emily Gray Rice announced that Franklyn Morillo, 41, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, oxycodone and cocaine. Morillo appeared before United States District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe to enter his guilty plea.
According to documents that were filed in court and statements in the plea proceeding, Morillo admitted that he and others participated in the distribution of cocaine and oxycodone pills in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Over $18,000 in cash and a quantity of cocaine were seized from his residence in Haverhill during the execution of a search warrant in August of 2015. Morillo was arrested on Oct. 1, 2015. A quantity of oxycodone pills and over $2,000 in cash were recovered from his residence at the time of his arrest.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for March 7, 2017.
Morillo is one of six individuals indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 23, 2015, and charged with conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, controlled substances. The other defendants are: Mara Morillo, 41, of Haverhill, Massachusetts; Juan Rojas, 32, of Haverhill, Massachusetts; Justin Bartimus, 35, formerly of Methuen, Massachusetts; Jorge Medina, 25, of Haverhill, Massachusetts; and Michael Lally, 28, of Salem, New Hampshire.
Rojas also was charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He is further charged in a separate indictment with conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Lally, Bartimus, and Mara Morillo have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Medina and Rojas are awaiting trial.
This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad led the investigation with assistance from the Haverhill, Massachusetts Police Department, the Methuen, Massachusetts Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John J. Farley.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
