United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BOSTON – A Springfield man was sentenced on Oct. 27, 2022 in federal court in Springfield for his role in a large-scale heroin trafficking organization.

William Brantley, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 43 months in prison and five years of supervised release. In July 2019, Brantley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin. He was indicted along with 17 co-conspirators in August 2017.

Brantley was a member of a Springfield-based drug trafficking organization led by co-conspirator Alberto Marte. Marte had direct contact with heroin supply sources in the Dominican Republic. On a monthly basis, members of the organization transported between eight and 20 kilograms of heroin to the Springfield area. Brantley regularly purchased large amounts of heroin from Marte which he then distributed to various retail-level dealers in the Springfield area. Specifically, Brantley purchased 300 packs – or 30,000 doses – of heroin from Marte on a number of occasions from July 2016 to September 2016.

In March 2020, Marte was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Division; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood; Chicopee Police Chief Patrick J. Major; Holyoke Police Chief Manny Febo; and West Springfield Police Chief Paul Connor made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil L. Desroches of Rollins’ Springfield Branch Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen W. Hassink of Rollins’ Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.