Cape Cod Brothers Charged in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

BOSTON—Federal agents and task force officers today arrested a long-time Cape Cod drug trafficker and are lodging a federal detainer against his brother.

Stanley Gonsalves, 34, of Sandwich, and Joshua Gonzales, 32, of Dennisport, were charged on November 1, 2012, with participating in a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy that began as early as 2009. The indictment was unsealed today after Stanley Gonsalves’s arrest in Sandwich this morning. Stanley Gonsalves was arraigned on the charges in district court in Boston this afternoon and is being detained in custody until a hearing to be held on December 4, 2012. Joshua Gonsalves, who is in state custody at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, will be brought to Boston for an initial court appearance on November 15, 2012.

The government alleges that the Gonsalves brothers obtained tens of thousands of oxycodone tablets from, among others, John Willis and other members of Willis’ Florida-to-Massachusetts oxycodone trafficking organization. Willis’ organization was separately indicted in May 2011. The federal case against Willis is still pending. The pills obtained by the Gonsalves brothers from Willis and other sources were then distributed to various Cape Cod drug dealers for sale to individuals.

If convicted, Stanley Gonsalves faces up to 30 years in federal prison, while Joshua Gonsalves faces up to 20 years in prison. Both men face fines of up to $2 million, a lifetime of supervised release, and forfeiture of all of their drug proceeds and all property used to facilitate their oxycodone-trafficking conspiracy.

United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz made the announcement today. The case has been investigated by the combined efforts of the FBI, DEA’s Cape Cod Drug Task Force, the IRS, the Massachusetts State Police, Barnstable Police Department, Boston Police Department, Dennis Police Department, Harwich Police Department, Quincy Police Department, and Sandwich Police Department, with the assistance of the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office and the Barnstable County District Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard L. Hoffman and Timothy E. Moran of the U.S. Attorney’s Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.