Press Release  Clinton Man Sentenced to State Prison for Cocaine Trafficking

Boston — A Clinton man has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to up to four years in state prison in connection with a cocaine trafficking operation, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Dominic Clifford-Paulino, age 26, pleaded guilty on October 1 in Worcester Superior Court to Trafficking Cocaine, 36 Grams or More; Trafficking Cocaine, 18 Grams or More; and Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws. After the plea was entered, Judge William Ritter sentenced Clifford-Paulino to three and a half to four years in state prison, with two years of probation to be served upon his release.

This sentencing is the result of a joint investigation by the AG’s Office, Massachusetts State Police, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Fitchburg, Worcester, and Hopkinton police departments, and Worcester County Sheriff’s Office into a drug trafficking operation headed by Anthony “Vito” Nuzzolilo of Worcester, of which Clifford-Paulino was a member. The investigation involved a months-long wiretap culminating in the execution of a search warrant at a property owned by Nuzzolilo in May 2017, where authorities seized approximately 187 grams of heroin and 250 grams of cocaine. Clifford-Paulino was present at the time of the search warrant execution and authorities seized more than 18 grams of cocaine from his possession.

Nuzzolilo’s case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He pleaded guilty to trafficking heroin and cocaine in August 2019 and was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison and eight years of supervised release in April 2020.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Cesar Vega of AG Healey’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crimes Division.

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