A 34-year-old man associated with a Methuen drug “stash house” where fentanyl, heroin and drug processing equipment were found in 2018, was convicted by a federal jury in Boston Thursday.
Carlos Soto-Villar, a Dominican national formerly residing in Lawrence, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and 400 grams or more of fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for next Jan. 27.
According to testimony, Soto-Villar supplied a kilogram of fentanyl to co-defendant Ana Caraballo Dec. 6, 2018. It was seized by police the next day after a search of a Methuen apartment used by Soto-Villar and Angel Valdez as a drug stash house. Police seized more than nine kilograms of fentanyl and heroin and drug processing equipment. Soto-Villaris said to have fled from the apartment and was arrested a short distance away.
Soto-Villar faces a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million.
Prosecution assistance came from the Massachusetts State Police and Methuen Police Department.