Chicopee Man Convicted of Cocaine Trafficking

BOSTON - A member of a large-scale criminal enterprise has been convicted after a four-day trial for distributing large amounts of cocaine throughout Eastern and Western Massachusetts.

Vicente Gonzalez, 51, of Chicopee, was convicted on Oct. 3, 2024 of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Jan. 8, 2025. Gonzalez was indicted along with 12 co-defendants in December 2019.

As part of the cocaine-trafficking conspiracy, Vicente Gonzalez received multiple kilograms of cocaine through the U.S. mail from Puerto Rico. He received those cocaine packages at his home and from another address in West Springfield. Gonzalez agreed to distribute this cocaine to his co-conspirators based in both the Chicopee/Springfield area and New Bedford. On July 29, 2019, during a search of Gonzalez's residence, two kilograms of cocaine worth approximately $60,000 were seized in from the basement, directly underneath a laundry chute leading from Gonzalez's laundry room.

The charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, as well as the charge of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, each provide for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $5 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Boston Division; and New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Chicopee and Holyoke Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen Hassink and Nathaniel Yeager of the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.

The operation was conducted by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation's illegal drug supply. More information on the OCDETF program is available here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.