Press Release  Lawrence Man Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Prison for Trafficking Fentanyl and Heroin

BOSTON — A Lawrence man has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to serve three and a half to four years in state prison in connection with dealing large amounts of fentanyl and heroin in the city, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today. 

Anthony Sanchez Aponte, age 38, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Essex Superior Court to Trafficking in More than 18 Grams of Heroin (1 count) and Trafficking in More than 10 Grams of Fentanyl (5 counts). Following the plea, Judge Kathleen McCarthy sentenced Sanchez Aponte to serve three and half to four years in state prison.  

“Fentanyl-related overdose deaths are on the rise in our state and in our communities,” AG Healey said. “We are pleased this defendant is being held accountable and will serve time in prison for bringing this deadly drug onto our streets.” 

Sanchez Aponte was arrested in August 2020 following a joint investigation by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team (CINRET) North, and to the AG’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Manchester, NH District Office that identified him as a street level dealer of large amounts of fentanyl and heroin.  

On six separate occasions from June to August 2020, Sanchez Aponte sold trafficking weight of fentanyl and heroin to an undercover officer. In total, he sold approximately 56 grams of heroin and 334 grams of fentanyl to the officer.  

AG Healey’s Office has prioritized combatting the opioid crisis and has been working closely with federal, state and local partners to fight illegal drug trafficking throughout New England. The AG’s New England Fentanyl Strike Force was created in 2016 using a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Anti-Heroin Task Force and has since been strengthened with a nearly $3 million grant in 2018, a $2.6 million grant in 2019, and a $3.8 million grant in 2021, which have expanded ongoing multistate and cross-jurisdictional investigations. Since its launch, the Strike Force has seized more than 400 kilograms of heroin and fentanyl including tens of thousands of opioid pills and millions of dollars in cash and arrested more than 530 suspects. 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Lynn Brennan of the AG’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crime Division. 

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