New Bedford Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Conspiracy

BOSTON (WBSM) — A New Bedford man has pleaded guilty in Boston federal court for his role in a drug trafficking operation in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Jose Santiago, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Between April 2022 and June 2022, Santiago purchased fentanyl that he then redistributed to others.

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Intercepted calls caught Santiago discussing purchasing fentanyl, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 7, 2024. A federal grand jury indicted Santiago in August 2022. The charges call for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million.

Crime Rate Statistics in Southcoast Towns

Here are the crime rate statistics for SouthCoast communities, utilizing data from 2022, the most recent year available. Annual data is from the Massachusetts Crime Statistics. The number of crimes is a data collection of total arrests, DUI/OUI charges, violent crimes, and hate crimes. The clearance rate is the number of charged crimes divided by the total number of crimes recorded. We listed the SouthCoast towns alphabetically.

Gallery Credit: Ariel Dorsey