United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy | U.S. Department of Justice
A Lynn man, Jose Perez, has been sentenced to over 11 years in prison for drug and firearm charges. Chief U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor handed down the sentence of 142 months, followed by three years of supervised release, in federal court in Boston.
Perez, aged 27, was convicted in August 2024 after a five-day jury trial. He faced charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His arrest occurred in January 2023 alongside co-defendant Henry Del Rio.
The case began when police attempted to stop Perez's speeding vehicle in Lexington, Massachusetts, in December 2022. Instead of stopping, Perez accelerated to over 85 miles per hour on residential streets before crashing into another vehicle and colliding with a post. Upon exiting the vehicle, a loaded Glock 34X 9mm semi-automatic handgun fell from his possession. Both Perez and Del Rio fled the scene but were apprehended after a foot chase through a Stop and Shop parking lot.
Upon arrest, officers found more than $2,000 cash on Perez and recovered drugs along Del Rio's flight path and inside the crashed vehicle. These included cocaine and fentanyl packaged for distribution.
At the time of this incident, Perez was already on supervised release due to two prior federal convictions: one in 2017 for dealing firearms without a license and another in 2020 for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances while being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Del Rio pleaded guilty to related charges in May 2024 and is awaiting sentencing scheduled for January 2025.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and James M. Ferguson from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Boston Field Division. The case received assistance from several local police departments as well as Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mike Crowley and Sarah Hoefle prosecuted the case.
