United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BOSTON – Two Boston men have been sentenced in federal court in Boston in connection with their roles in a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking and money laundering ring operating between Massachusetts and California.

Mario Castro, 50, was sentenced yesterday to 57 months in prison by U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr., in connection with his role in distributing methamphetamine in the Boston area. Jorge Grandon, 49, was sentenced on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, by Judge O’Toole to 30 months in prison for his role in the conspiracy. 

Castro and Grandon were two of 11 men from Massachusetts and California who were indicted in 2016 on offenses including conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. All 11 defendants have pleaded guilty to federal charges. Eight defendants are still pending sentencing; a ninth defendant, Christopher Halfond, was sentenced by Judge O’Toole on April 29, 2019, to 140 months in federal prison.

The charges were the result of a two-year investigation into methamphetamine trafficking. Beginning in at least 2013, the defendants participated in a conspiracy to transport sizeable quantities of methamphetamine from San Diego to Massachusetts, where it was distributed in the greater Boston area. Proceeds from the sale of that methamphetamine were then transported and/or transferred back to California and laundered in various ways. In December 2015, agents seized approximately 75 grams of 99 percent pure methamphetamine that had been ordered by Grandon and were hidden in Castro’s pants. 

DEA New England Division Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle; United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; FBI Boston Division Special Agent in Charge Joseph R. Bonavolonta; Special Agent in Charge Kristina O’Connell, Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; Director of Field Operations William Ferrara, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Boston Police Commissioner William Gross made the announcement. The Massachusetts Department of Correction; Norfolk County Sherriff’s Office; Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office; the Reading, Watertown, Quincy, Chelsea, Braintree, Peabody, Waltham and Woburn Police Departments; and Connecticut State Police assisted with the investigation.

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