Three Holyoke Residents Plead Guilty To Oxycodone Conspiracy

BOSTON - Two Holyoke residents were convicted yesterday in U.S. District Court in Springfield for their role in distributing oxycodone pills shipped from Florida.

Angel Luis Medina, 31, Luz Eneida Morales, 46, and Doel Vega, 24, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. Judge Woodlock scheduled sentencing for June 27, 2014. On Feb. 25, 2014, a third Holyoke resident was convicted as part of the same conspiracy.

Between January 2009 and April 11, 2013, the defendants were part of a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone pills which they received in large quantities from Florida via Express Mail. The pills were then sold in western Massachusetts and the drug proceeds were deposited in branches of national banks in Holyoke. Co-conspirators in Florida were able to withdraw these drug proceeds from branches of the national banks.

The defendants face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Regan of Ortiz’s Springfield Office.