Boston – Two men from Massachusetts have admitted guilt in Boston’s federal court for participating in a scheme to produce and sell fake pills laced with fentanyl and other drugs.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, Elmidio Crisostomo, 30, from Lynnfield, and David Depena, 32, from Lynn, each pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns has set their sentencing hearings for December 10, 2025. The pair faced indictment by a federal grand jury in November 2023.
Crisostomo and Depena operated out of a Lynn apartment to create counterfeit tablets containing fentanyl and additional controlled drugs. They supplied thousands of these illicit pills to buyers in locations such as Malden and Revere. A June 2023 raid on the apartment uncovered a manual press for pill production, along with several kilograms of pills and powdered substances including fentanyl and other narcotics…