United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CONCORD, N.H. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s New England Division and Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced that Juan Alexis Diaz Pena, 31, formerly of Methuen, Massachusetts, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone and unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Statements in earlier court proceedings showed that from approximately the spring of 2014 through January of 2016, Pena and Martin Gonzalez Diaz, conspired to distribute quantities of heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone in the Lawrence, Massachusetts area to individuals in Massachusetts, who in turn sold the drugs to individuals in New Hampshire who were further distributing the drugs to customers in Rochester, New Hampshire.

As part of the investigation, members of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) searched an apartment connected to Pena in January of 2016 and located quantities of cocaine and heroin, as well as items associated with drug trafficking.  A loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered under a mattress in a bedroom in close proximity to where the drugs were located.

“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to address the significant presence of heroin and fentanyl in New Hampshire by continuing to target the drug trafficking organizations responsible for the importation of large quantities of these drugs into New Hampshire from source cities such as Lawrence, Massachusetts.” Acting U.S. Attorney Farley said.

Diaz Pena, who previously pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 36 months in prison on the drug trafficking charge and received a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years on the firearms charge, which must be served consecutively to the sentence on the drug charge.  Diaz Pena will likely be deported from the United States after completing his federal sentence.

Gonzalez Diaz, 34, formerly of Lawrence, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy charge on August 17, 2016 and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 10, 2017.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Tactical Diversion Unit, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; the Rochester, New Hampshire Police Department and the Haverhill, MA Police Department.