R.I. man off to prison for part in Lynn drug scheme

SALEM – A Rhode Island man who admitted participating in a drug operation in Lynn last summer received three years in state prison.Jose Villafane, 34, of Lincoln, R.I., changed his plea from innocent to guilty last week before Judge David A. Lowy in Salem Superior Court, confessing to a reduced charge of trafficking over 14 grams of cocaine.The sentence imposed was an agreement reached by Assistant District Attorney Michael Patten and defense lawyer Kirk W. Bransfield.Lowy agreed to adopt the recommendation as proposed.On July 14, 2010, police identified a suspicious Express Mail parcel sent from Puerto Rico to a Daniel Jemery at 81 Superior St. in Lynn.The package was sent from an area known to be a source of illegal shipments of narcotics through the U.S. Postal Service.With the aid of a trained drug-sniffing K-9, Rocky, authorities determined the package may contain narcotics.The package was delivered two days later, July 15, to the recipient by an officer posing as a letter carrier and asked the recipient to open the package which contained 497 grams of cocaine, nearly a half kilo, along with a Samsung Home Theater System speaker.Police learned from a co-operating witness that Villafane was receiving the shipment on behalf of Jan Velasquez, 31, of Providence, R.I., who was known to carry a gun and had allegedly threatened family members.Velasquez was then called by the co-operating witness to pick up the package that afternoon.When he arrived in a tan Lincoln Navigator that day at around 2:30 p.m. to pick up the package, police moved in and arrested both men, Velasquez and Villafane, as they came to the home on Superior Street.The judge credited Villafane with 484 days he has spent in jail in lieu of bail awaiting trial on the case.Velasquez, believed to be the main target in the operation, pleaded to his role in September and is now serving eight years in state prison.