Open in App
  • Local
  • U.S.
  • Election
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Real Estate
  • Newsletter
  • Report Annapolis

    Rhode Island Man Sentenced to Over 33 Years in Federal Prison for international fentanyl distribution conspiracy

    2021-11-16

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1G1y6y_0cTQSJOh00
    Stock Photo

    A Rhode Island man was sentenced to 400 months in prison for his role in an international fentanyl distribution conspiracy.

    Steven Barros Pinto, 40, of Rhode Island, was sentenced by Chief District Court Judge Peter D. Welte in Fargo, North Dakota today. Pinto was part of a Rhode Island organization that was distributing fentanyl and fentanyl analogues from Canada and China. After a five-week trial that began on June 8 in Fargo, the jury returned guilty verdicts against Pinto on various charges including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, money laundering conspiracy, continuing criminal enterprise, and obstruction of justice. One of Pinto’s principal U.S.-based partners in this criminal conspiracy, Anthony Santos Gomes, 36, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on July 30.

    This investigation started on Jan. 3, 2015, with the overdose death in Grand Forks, North Dakota, of Bailey Henke, and eventually led to the indictment, and subsequent conviction, of multiple defendants including Daniel Vivas Ceron, 41, of Colombia, who pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice R. Senechal in Fargo in July 2019 to continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues resulting in serious bodily injury and death, and money laundering.

    In 2021, three Canadian nationals from Quebec, Canada, Jason Joey Berry, 38; Xuan Cahn Nguyen, 41; and Marie Um, 41, were extradited from Canada to the United States. These defendants are detained and are currently awaiting trial scheduled on Oct. 4, 2022 in Fargo. On Aug. 31, 2021, the U.S. Department of State offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of People’s Republic of China national Zhang Jian, aka Hong Kong Zaron, 42, a fugitive in this transnational investigation.

    Expand All
    Comments / 8
    Add a Comment
    Wild Rose
    2021-10-17
    get them all off the streets but it's only going to clean up some what because the drugs will never stop being distributed
    Guest
    2021-10-16
    Cut off one thumb
    View all comments
    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
    Local News newsLocal News
    Robert Russell Shaneyfelt4 days ago
    The Shenandoah (PA) Sentinel13 days ago

    Comments / 0