BOSTON (WWLP) – A Rhode Island man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Boston in connection with his fentanyl and fentanyl analog distribution activities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
According to the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, 32-year-old Moises Rodrigues, of Johnston, R.I., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and four years of supervised release.
In October 2020, Rodrigues pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, 10 grams or more of acetyl fentanyl and carfentanil, and three counts of distribution of fentanyl and/or acetyl fentanyl.
According to Lelling, Rodrigues sold fentanyl and fentanyl analogues on five separate occasions and had a “runner”, co-defendant Robert Soucy, deliver the drugs for him on one occasion.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times more potent than heroin.
In May 2020, Soucy was sentenced to 16 months in prison.