United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy | U.S. Department of Justice
A Rhode Island man has been sentenced to 22.5 years in federal prison for his involvement in a large-scale fentanyl trafficking operation. Jasdrual, also known as Josh Perez, aged 36, from Cranston, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin in Boston. Alongside the prison term, Perez will serve five years of supervised release and pay a $1 million fine. He is also required to forfeit his residence used for distributing fentanyl.
"Fentanyl kills over 2,000 people a year in Massachusetts. That is unacceptable," stated United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. "Jasdural Perez was running a business that pumped over 200 kilograms of this deadly poison onto the streets of Massachusetts and neighboring states, wreaking havoc and destroying lives."
Acting DEA Special Agent in Charge Stephen Belleau emphasized the agency's commitment to tackling fentanyl distribution: "Fentanyl is causing deaths in record numbers and DEA’s top priority is to aggressively pursue anyone who distributes this poison."
Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, commented on the significance of Perez's sentence: "The sentence of Jasdural Perez sends a strong message to all those who seek to endanger the welfare and wellbeing of our communities."
Perez led a drug trafficking organization based in Providence that distributed significant quantities of fentanyl across multiple states. The organization pressed fentanyl into pills resembling pharmaceutical-grade Oxycodone or Percocet pills.
In February 2022, authorities searched Perez's home, seizing industrial-sized pill presses and large quantities of fentanyl, including counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl. After learning about these searches, Perez fled to New York but continued orchestrating drug deals until his arrest on February 11, 2022.
U.S. Attorney Levy acknowledged the collaboration among various law enforcement agencies involved in this case: "We commend the tireless work of our law enforcement partners who continue...to root out, dismantle and punish these organizations."
This investigation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative aimed at disrupting major drug traffickers through multi-agency cooperation.
