Each faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the drug and money laundering charges.
CONCORD, NH – Five members of a Manchester-based oxycodone distribution ring pleaded guilty March 25 in U.S. District Court.
Samuel Garcia (35), Jennifer Nunez (24), Johanna Nunez (28), Jose Nunez (59 – not pictured), and Raul Hernandez (27), each admitted to their participation in a conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, oxycodone, as well as other federal criminal charges. The defendants were arrested after a law enforcement investigation that lasted from 2013 to August of 2014.
The arrests took place during a Beech Street raid in August that resulted in the shooting of a relative, Lillian Nunez, who was injured when a DEA agent’s gun misfired, according to authorities.
The investigation included the use of cooperating individuals to purchase oxycodone pills, as well as the use of wiretaps and search warrants. Most of the defendants were arrested on August 27, 2014 and resulted in the confiscation of: 3,065 oxycodone tablets with a street value of approximately $91,950; three vehicles used in conjunction with the drug trafficking operation; $58,502 in U.S. currency; four handguns; and multiple high-capacity magazines and ammunition.
Hernandez was arrested as he attempted to deliver over 600 oxycodone pills to the residence of Samuel Garcia and Jennifer Nunez on Eastern Avenue in Manchester. A search warrant was executed at that residence and hundreds of additional pills, as well as more than $30,000 in cash, and three firearms, were recovered from that location.
Garcia, Jennifer Nunez, and Johanna Nunez were arrested that day. Jose Nunez was arrested in October of 2014, after returning to the United States from the Dominican Republic. Garcia pleaded guilty on March 24, 2015, to: (1) conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance; (2) possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute; (3) conspiracy to launder monetary instruments; and (4) possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24, 2015.
Jennifer Nunez pleaded guilty on March 24, 2015, to: (1) conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance; (2) possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute; (3) distribution of a controlled substance; and (4) possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking Ccrime. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2015.
Johanna Nunez pleaded guilty on March 24, 2015, to: (1) conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance; and (2) four counts of distribution of a controlled substance. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2015.
Jose Nunez pleaded guilty on March 6, 2015, to: (1) conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance; (2) four counts of distribution of a controlled substance; (3) conspiracy to launder monetary instruments; and (4) possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2015.
Raul Hernandez pleaded guilty on March 17, 2015, to: (1) conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and (2) possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2015.
An additional defendant, Edward Anthony Hiciano Beltre, is a fugitive.
The defendants each face a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the drug and money laundering charges. The firearms charges carry a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison, which must be served consecutive to the sentences on the remaining charges.
In addition to these defendants, separate federal drug conspiracy charges remain pending against other Manchester residents who were arrested as part of this investigation, including Ryan Demers (31), William Alba (24), Bonnie Labrie (50), Krystal Mailhot (27), and Yonajaira Galarza Ramos (30).
This investigation was the product of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. This particular investigation involved cooperative efforts of federal and local law enforcement entities, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Manchester Police Department, the New Hampshire State Police, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John J. Farley and Debra M. Walsh.
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