Boston Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Drug Conspiracies
BOSTON – A member of the violent Boston-based gang, H-Block, has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to drug conspiracy charges.
Avery Lewis, a/k/a “Wave,” 32, of Dorchester pleaded guilty on Jan. 21, 2025 to two counts of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Myong J. Joun scheduled sentencing for May 13, 2025.
Lewis was one of 10 H-Block gang members and associates charged in August 2024 following a multi-year investigation of H-Block beginning in 2021 in response to an uptick in gang-related drug trafficking, shootings and violence. Over 500 grams of cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine) and fentanyl, as well as over 20,000 doses of drug-laced paper were seized during the investigation.
According to the charging documents, the H-Block street gang is one of the most feared and influential city-wide gangs in Boston. Originally formed in the 1980s as the Humboldt Raiders in the Roxbury section of Boston, the gang re-emerged in the 2000s as H-Block. Current members of H-Block have a history of violent confrontation with law enforcement, including an incident in 2015 when a member shot a Boston Police officer at point blank range without warning or provocation.
Lewis was a long-time H-Block gang member and daily street-level dealer with a regular roster of customers. Over the course of the investigation, Lewis sold cocaine to an undercover officer on several occasions and coordinated other drug trafficking criminal activities with H-Block gang members.
Lewis’ criminal history includes a 2017 cocaine conviction for possessing 86 bags of cocaine inside his apartment as well as a 2013 conviction for unlawfully possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Lewis is the first defendant to plead guilty in the case.
The charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Andrew Murphy of the U.S. Secret Service Boston Field Office; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Depart of Labor, Office of Inspector General made the announcement. The investigation was supported by the Massachusetts State Police; Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; Massachusetts Department of Corrections; and the Braintree, Quincy, Randolph and Watertown Police Departments. Assistant United States Attorney John T. Dawley of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit and Jeremy Franker of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime & Racketeering Section are prosecuting the cases.
The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
