United States Drug Enforcement Administration

OCT 28 - CONCORD, NH - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent-in-Charge of the DEA New England Field Division and United States Attorney Emily Gray Rice announced today that Franklyn Morillo, 41, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, oxycodone and cocaine. Morillo appeared before United States District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe today to enter his guilty plea.

According to documents filed in court and statements in the plea proceeding Morillo admitted that he and others participated in the distribution of cocaine and oxycodone pills in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. More than $18,000 in cash and a quantity of cocaine were seized from his residence in Haverhill during the execution of a search warrant in August of 2015. Morillo was arrested on October 1, 2015, and a quantity of oxycodone pills and over $2,000 in cash were recovered from his residence at the time of his arrest.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for March 7, 2017. 

Morillo is one of six individuals that were indicted by a federal grand jury on September 23, 2015 and charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. The other defendants are: Mara Morillo, 41, of Haverhill, Massachusetts; Juan Rojas, 32, of Haverhill, Massachusetts; Justin Bartimus, 35, formerly of Methuen, Massachusetts; Jorge Medina, 25, of Haverhill, Massachusetts; and Michael Lally, 28, of Salem, New Hampshire.

Rojas also was also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and further charged in a separate indictment with conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Medina and Rojas are currently awaiting trial while Lally, Bartimus, and Mara Morillo have already pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad led the investigation with assistance from the Haverhill, MA Police Department, the Methuen, MA Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police.