BOSTON - Six individuals were charged in an indictment unsealed today for their roles in a Worcester-based heroin and cocaine distribution operation.
Vito Nuzzolilo, 44, of Worcester; Kristin Little, 33, of Worcester; Thomas Walker, 43, of Pemaquid, Maine; Melissa Rock, 39, of Pemaquid, Maine; and Ricardo Ortega-Vasquez, 42, a Dominican national residing in New York City, were each charged on Thursday, July 27, in an indictment unsealed today with one count of conspiring to distribute, or to possess with the intent to distribute, heroin and cocaine. Nuzzolilo and Little were arrested on May 23, 2017, on a criminal complaint, and the three other defendants were already in custody on state charges.
Ryan Flynn, 35, of Leicester, was charged in a separate indictment with conspiring with Nuzzolilo to distribute cocaine and with possessing marijuana with intent to distribute. Flynn was arrested today and will be detained pending a hearing on Aug. 7, 2017.
According to court documents, Nuzzolilo and Little distributed heroin and cocaine from their apartment on Grafton Street in Worcester, where someone suffered a fatal heroin overdose. A federal wiretap revealed numerous communications in which Nuzzolilo directed various customers to the Grafton Street apartment, or to a separate space that Nuzzolilo maintained on Webster Street in Worcester, for the purpose of obtaining heroin or cocaine.
The wiretap further revealed that Nuzzolilo coordinated with a New York-based source of supply for the delivery of significant quantities of narcotics to Worcester, including an order of a kilogram of cocaine and 400 grams of heroin in April 2017. On May 7, 2017, law enforcement seized approximately 300 grams of cocaine from Ortega-Vasquez, who was riding in Nuzzolilo’s vehicle after Nuzzolilo ordered additional cocaine from his New York source. In addition, Walker and Rock arranged for the purchase of cocaine from Nuzzolilo and Little on credit, with Walker explaining that his “workers" had the cash to pay for it.
Flynn and Nuzzolilo also allegedly discussed a substantial drug debt owed by Nuzzolilo to Flynn, with Nuzzolilo explaining that he had given cocaine to Walker and was expecting cash in return, but that his timetable was disrupted when Walker was arrested. Nuzzolilo conveyed to Flynn that he had plenty or heroin but was out of cocaine, and then acquired additional cocaine from Flynn at Flynn’s residence in Leicester on May 1, 2017. Court records also show large cash deposits into Flynn’s bank account dating back to 2014. At least $8,110 was deposited in April 2017, at least $6,400 was deposited in March 2017, and at least $12,258 was deposited in February 2017.
Nuzzolilo faces a sentence of no greater than 40 years in prison, a minimum of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $5 million. The remaining defendants face sentences of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. Flynn also faces a charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, which provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, a minimum of two years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Additional defendants involved with this drug trafficking organization are being prosecuted by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney William F. Abely of Weinreb’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
