Two Brockton Men Plead Guilty to Wide-Ranging Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

 Defendants conspired with others to traffic fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and other drugs throughout Southeastern Massachusetts

BOSTON – Two Brockton men pleaded guilty to their roles in a wide-ranging drug trafficking conspiracy reaching from Boston to Brockton to Cape Cod.

Cody Goncalves, 28, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, oxycodone and marijuana; possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin; possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base and marijuana; being a felon in possession of ammunition; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Feb. 2, 2022.

Jermaine Gonsalves, 34, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, oxycodone and marijuana. Judge Gorton scheduled sentencing for Feb. 3, 2022.

According to court documents, in the fall of 2018, law enforcement began investigating a violent Brockton drug crew headed by Djuna Goncalves, Cody Goncalves’s brother. The investigation revealed that the Goncalves brothers worked with others, including Jermaine Gonsalves, to distribute large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, cocaine base and marijuana throughout southeastern Massachusetts from a base of operations on Addison Avenue in Brockton. The investigation also targeted several Boston-based drug suppliers to the Goncalves brothers. Agents seized large quantities of heroin, fentanyl, cash and a loaded firearm from Cody Goncalves, who had previously been convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and who had distributed drugs while on pre-trial release from a state drug charge. In addition, a loaded firearm and drugs were seized from a residence tied to Jermaine Gonsalves, who had previously been convicted in U.S. District Court in Boston of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.

In December 2018, Cody Goncalves and Jermaine Gonsalves were indicted along with 15 others as part of the drug trafficking conspiracy. Of the 17 defendants charged in the indictment, nine have been sentenced. Cody Goncalves and Jermaine Gonsalves are the 12^th and 13^th defendants to plead guilty in the case, respectively.

The charges of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base and marijuana, and possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, provide for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, oxycodone and marijuana provides for a sentence of up to life in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. The charge of being a felon in possession of ammunition provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime provides for a mandatory sentence of five years to be served consecutively to the sentence for the drug trafficking offense and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; and Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Pohl and Alathea E. Porter of Mendell’s Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.

The operation was conducted by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply. More information on the OCDETF program is available here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.

The detailed contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.