United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BOSTON – A Sutton man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Worcester, Massachusetts, for conspiring to distribute cocaine.

Bruce Marando, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On Aug. 20, 2021, Marando was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

“Illegal drug distribution ravages the very foundations of our families and communities” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle.  “Let this sentencing be a warning to those traffickers looking to distribute this poison.”

In 2017, agents identified Marando as a member of a Worcester-based drug trafficking organization led by co-conspirator Vito Nuzzolilo. From March to May 2017, Marando conspired to distribute cocaine and cocaine base (crack cocaine). A wiretap revealed numerous communications in which Marando and Nuzzolilo discussed purchasing and selling cocaine, cooking crack cocaine and distributing cocaine to satisfy a $12,000 debt that Marando owed Nuzzolilo. Intercepted conversations also revealed that Marando and Nuzzolilo regularly discussed using physical violence to assault customers unable to pay their debts. As a result of the investigation, law enforcement seized drugs from various locations, including 250 grams of cocaine from Nuzzolilo’s band room.

In April 2020, Nuzzolilo was sentenced to 134 months in prison and eight years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; and Webster Police Chief Michael D. Shaw made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun, Elysa Q. Wan, David J. Derusha and William F. Abely of Rollins’ Criminal Division prosecuted the case.