BOSTON — A 27-year-old Lynn man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to operating a North Shore drug-trafficking operation that used multiple high-volume pill press machines to produce tens of thousands of fentanyl pills per hour to sell to street gangs for local distribution, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Vincent Caruso, also known as “Fatz,” pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana and other controlled substances; one count of conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime; possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime; conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Caruso will be sentenced to at least 15 years, according to prosecutors.
Per the U.S. Attorney’s office, Caruso was initially arrested and charged by complaint on June 30, 2021 along with co-conspirators Ernest Johnson, Laurie Caruso and Nicole Benton as part of “Operation Street Sweepah: Guns and Butter,” an investigation that began in 2020 in direct response to an increasing number of shootings in communities north of Boston committed by street gangs, whose violence is fueled by drug distribution.
Caruso was later indicted by a federal grand jury on Jan. 19, 2022.
Benton and Laurie Caruso have each pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking operation (DTO) and are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8, 2022, and June 29, 2022, respectively. Johnson has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
According to the charging documents, Caruso, a self-admitted Crip gang member, operated a large and sophisticated DTO with multiple subordinates that sold counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl to street gangs for further distribution on the North Shore. During the investigation, Caruso’s DTO was identified as a common supply source of counterfeit, pressed fentanyl pills and other controlled substances for several street gangs responsible for the uptick in violence.
During Tuesday’s plea hearing, Caruso admitted that his DTO distributed more than 30 kilograms of fentanyl, largely in the form of pressed fentanyl pills. At times during the conspiracy, Caruso manufactured his own fentanyl pills, and later, the DTO received multiple deliveries of at least 50,000 pills, prosecutors said.
Additionally, Caruso possessed and used firearms and orchestrated violent offenses such as armed robbery, prosecutors said.
In March 2020, while on pretrial release for state fentanyl and firearm charges, Caruso orchestrated an armed robbery and home invasion in which two individuals robbed the occupants of an apartment of approximately $18,000 and jewelry.
While on state pretrial release, Caruso also sent photos and videos using social media that depicted him in possession of firearms and machine guns, large quantities of fentanyl that would be distributed by his organization, large amounts of cash and high-end jewelry.
Caruso also conspired with others to conduct hundreds of thousands of dollars in transactions in order to launder illegal proceeds of the drug-trafficking operation.
More than a kilogram of pressed fentanyl and more than a dozen firearms were recovered through various search warrants executed in this and related investigations.
The charge of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana and other controlled substances provides for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million.
The charge of conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking conspiracy involving a machine gun provides for a sentence of up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
The charge of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the amount of money involved.
U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for June 30, 2022.
