BOSTON – A Massachusetts man was sentenced in federal court in Boston for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 45-year-old Leonardo Lara was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. In October 2025, Lara was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (involving five kilograms or more of cocaine). In August 2023, Lara was indicted by a federal grand jury along with co-conspirators Merced Navarro Morfin and Leandro Martinez.
In April 2022, an investigation revealed that Lara was in possession of $230,000 in drug proceeds that he sought to send to Mexico. On April 20, 2022, Lara was stopped on Interstate-84 in Sturbridge and approximately $40,000 in drug proceeds were found hidden in baby-wipe containers in the trunk. Lara was released from the traffic stop and promptly contacted his co-conspirators. Approximately 36 minutes after the traffic stop concluded, Martinez and Navarro Morfin were observed travelling to Lara’s residence in Methuen and removing eight kilograms of cocaine. Another kilogram of cocaine, and approximately $196,000 in bundled cash, were found in the car that Martinez and Navarro Morfin drove to Lara’s house…