Worcester Business Owner Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Fentanyl Distribution and Money Laundering

BOSTON – A Worcester business owner was sentenced today in federal court in Worcester for distributing fentanyl and using the proceeds of drug sales to purchase and renovate nine properties and two restaurants in Worcester County. 

Kevin A. Perry, 44, of Worcester, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 14 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Perry was also ordered to forfeit nine properties, the business assets of two restaurants, over $510,000 in cash and precious metals seized to date, an illegal pill press, and two vehicles. The sentence also includes a money judgment of $1,180,943 against Perry should additional assets be located. In October 2017, Perry pleaded guilty to nine counts of money laundering, three counts of aggravated cash structuring, one count of making a false statement on a loan application, and one count of distribution of fentanyl. 

Perry was previously convicted in federal court in Massachusetts of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute MDMA, commonly referred to as Ecstasy. Despite filing an affidavit claiming he possessed nothing of monetary value to satisfy the court’s forfeiture order, Perry boasted to an individual that he successfully concealed from the government “millions of dollars” in profits from drug sales. Following his release from prison in 2008, Perry returned to the manufacturing and distribution of controlled substances, including fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid linked to thousands of fatal drug overdoses. On Feb. 23, 2017, Perry distributed 2,000 pills containing fentanyl to an individual cooperating with law enforcement. 

Additionally, from April 2012 to October 2016, Perry used over $1 million in proceeds from drug sales to purchase and renovate nine properties in Worcester County. Those purchases included two restaurants in the city of Worcester: The Usual Restaurant located at 166 Shrewsbury Street and The Blackstone Tap located at 81 Water Street. Perry also used the proceeds from his drug sales to purchase more than 230 money orders totaling over $150,000 from the United States Postal Service and Western Union to make structured cash payments on real estate loans and to finance his wedding in August 2015. The only employment that Perry reported during that time was as a fitness trainer. He also collected unemployment benefits from June 2015 through January 2016.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Albert Angelucci, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Delany De Leon-Colon, Acting Inspector in Charge of the United States Postal Inspection Service; and Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg A. Friedholm of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.