Leader Of Brockton Drug Trafficking Organization Pleads Guilty To Fentanyl Conspiracy
Friday, January 31, 2025, 3:45 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
BOSTON, MA.- A 32-year-old Braintree, Massachusetts, man, and leader of a large-scale Brockton-area drug trafficking organization is facing spending the next decade in federal prison after pleading guilty on Wednesday to distributing 1.5 kilograms of high-purity fentanyl laced with deadly tranq that would have been distributed throughout the Brockton, Massachusetts area.
On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, Jonathan Melendez Decatro, also known as “Jacha,” 32 of Braintree, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV, to one count of Conspiracy to Distribute and to Possess with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl.
Following entering his guilty plea, Judge Saylor accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for May 12, 2025. Pursuant to the plea agreement filed in the court, Melendez Decatro will face a sentence of 120 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office
According to U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and the charging information unsealed in the June 2023 indictment, during an investigation into narcotics distribution, Melendez Decatro was identified as the leader of a large-scale fentanyl and cocaine trafficking organization operating within the Brockton, Massachusetts area, who sourced and received drugs directly from Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
On two dates in 2021, packages intended for Melendez Decatro were intercepted by federal law enforcement agents, and each contained a kilogram of cocaine. Additionally, on several dates in the spring of 2023, Melendez Decatro conspired with an individual who resided in the Dominican Republic to distribute in total 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl to another person in Braintree. Laboratory analysis of the fentanyl determined the purity of the fentanyl exceeded 50 percent and also contained xylazine.
During a court-authorized search of Melendez Decatro’s Braintree residence, investigators found over $10,000 in narcotics proceeds and clothing that was worn during the fentanyl transactions.
