The Essex County Superior Court recently sentenced a man for drug charges. (File photograph.)
A Methuen man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to state prison in connection with a large narcotics trafficking operation in Essex County and New Hampshire.
Andre Lopez-Gomez, 42, pleaded guilty in Essex County Superior Court to the charges of Trafficking Heroin 18 to 36 grams, Trafficking Fentanyl, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Use of a Firearm During a Felony, Money Laundering and Conspiracy to Violate the Controlled Substances Act. Each charge featured one count each. After the plea was entered, Judge Salim Tabit sentenced Lopez-Gomez to eight years and one day in state prison.
Investigators arrested Lopez-Gomez in May 2017 after recovering two firearms, ammunition, heroin, fentanyl, marijuana, tools for drug distribution and a large amount of bundled U.S. currency later determined to total nearly $1 million. Subsequent examination of the narcotics confirmed seizure of more than 90 grams of fentanyl, more than 20 grams of heroin and approximately 33 pounds of marijuana.
On October 30, Lopez-Gomez also plead guilty and was sentenced by the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire on a set of federal indictments. The defendant is subject to deportation upon completion of his sentences of incarceration.