Haverhill Man Sentenced For Selling Tens Of Thousands Of Counterfeit Pills
Friday, November 29, 2024, 6:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
BOSTON, MA.- On Tuesday, a 36-year-old Haverhill, Massachusetts, man learned that he will be spending nearly the next decade in federal prison for selling counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine to an undercover officer.
On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Angel Joel Diaz, also known as “Guero,” 36, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, appeared in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 108 months in federal prison for his previously entered guilty plea to illicit narcotics distribution offenses.
Diaz Pleads Guilty To Narcotics Distribution Charges
In April 2024, Diaz appeared in U.S. District Court and pleaded guilty to one count of Distribution of and Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, two counts of Distribution of and Possession with Intent to Distribute 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl; and one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine and Methadone, and 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy and charging documents filed with the court, in January 2023, an investigation began into Diaz’s fentanyl pill manufacturing and distribution operation.
During the investigation, an undercover officer contacted Diaz, posing as a potential pill customer, and expressed an interest in purchasing counterfeit pills from Diaz. On January 11, 2023, Diaz met with the undercover officer and provided the officer with 208 pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. Diaz told the undercover officer that the pills were made with “fentanyl” and they were “knocking people down in New York.”
On two subsequent occasions, January 27, 2023, and February 7, 2023, Diaz met with the undercover officer and distributed thousands of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl to the officer.
On February 14, 2023, Diaz sent a photo of fentanyl pills to the undercover officer and messaged with the picture, “Even Making It With A Mask Makes Want To Vomit And Everything.”
Following the undercover operation on February 15, 2023, Diaz was arrested while carrying a shopping bag containing 31,142 fentanyl pills separated into seven plastic bags. During a court-authorized search of Diaz’s Haverhill residence, investigators uncovered and seized two pill presses, thousands of pills, powder containing fentanyl and methadone, stamps used to make counterfeit pills, several masks, and chemicals utilized in manufacturing pills.
The total seizure from Diaz’s residence yielded 6 kilograms of a substance containing fentanyl, 381 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine, and 81 grams of a substance containing methadone.
