News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2007
Tony Pettigrew
617-557-2138

"Who's a Rat" Founder Going to Jail

JUL 12 -- (BOSTON, MA) - A North Reading man was sentenced today in federal court to 151months in prison of charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over 1,000 Kilograms of Marijuana, money Laundering, structuring financial transactions, and tax evasion.

June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Douglas A. Bricker, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Division , announced that SEAN P. BUCCI, age 34, of 23 Marshall Street, North Reading, Massachusetts, and founder of “Whosarat.com,” was sentenced to 12 ½ years in federal prison,to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. BUCCI was convicted earlier this year after a jury trial on a total of 16 counts of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute over 100 kilograms of marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, structuring currency transactions, and tax evasion.

Evidence presented during the nine day trial proved that, dating back to at least the late 1990s to 2003, SEAN BUCCI was a large scale marijuana dealer who sold thousands of pounds of marijuana out of his home in North Reading, and laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars through various bank accounts owned by he and his mother. The evidence at trial showed that SEAN BUCCI used his drug money to buy real estate, vehicles, a boat, and for extensive travel to, and gambling in, Aruba.

After their guilty verdict, the jury returned a judgment of forfeiture against SEAN BUCCI. Among other things, the jury returned a general forfeiture judgment of $2.7 million against BUCCI, and judgments of forfeiture of his house at 23 Marshall Street in North Reading, a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche SUV, a boat and $35,000 in a bank account.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration New England Field Division, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Office, Massachusetts State Police, the Haverhill, Lowell, Salem, Wilmington, and North Reading Police Departments, Essex County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Department.