A Rhode Island man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Boston for his role in trafficking fentanyl throughout southeastern Massachusetts and his home state.
Mario Rafael Dominguez-Ortiz, 27, of Cranston, Rhode Island, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs to one year and a day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said in a statement.
In May, Dominguez-Ortiz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2022 along with nine other individuals.
In March 2021, an investigation began into a drug trafficking ring operating in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island led by Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara, Levy said.
The investigation identified Dominguez-Ortiz as a member of a drug trafficking organization, and he was employed by Ortiz-Alcantara to deliver fentanyl.
Four times between July and November 2021, Dominguez-Ortiz delivered fentanyl to a cooperating source, Levy said. The total amount of fentanyl that he distributed over the fourth-month period was approximately 500 grams.