Westfield man gets 9 years for Mexico-to-WMass narcotics trafficking
BOSTON — A Westfield man will serve up to nine years in federal prison for his role in a narcotics conspiracy dating back to the mid-2010s, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
David Cruz, 56, was sentenced on Oct. 17 in federal court in Worcester for the Mexico-to-Massachusetts drug and money laundering enterprise.
U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman ordered the sentence to be followed by one year of parole.
Cruz pleaded guilty back in 2017 to conspiracy to possess and distribute heroin, conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, and possession of a firearm while drug trafficking, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Between 2015 and when authorities arrested him on Sept. 12, 2016, Cruz brought cocaine, heroin and fentanyl from Mexico into California. He then transported it for distribution to Western Massachusetts and Southern Vermont.
Cruz sold about 32 kilos of cocaine and about 1 kilo of fentanyl. Cruz also laundered the profits to his international organization through wire transfers and cash drops.
The Department of Justice said Thursday in a statement that Cruz protected his drugs and cash with a loaded .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts and the Drug Enforcement Administration's New England Field Division announced the sentencing Thursday.
The DEA's Carlsbad, California, office; Homeland Security Investigations; and the Westfield Police Department aided in the drug probe.
Prosecuting the case were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven H. Breslow and Neil L. Desroches, of the agency's Springfield office.
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