Brockton Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Racketeering and Fentanyl Trafficking Conspiracies

BOSTON – A Brockton man was sentenced yesterday for racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracies stemming from his involvement in the Boston-based street gang, NOB.

Wilson Goncalves-Mendes, a/k/a “Dub,” 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 12 years in prison and four years of supervised release. On June 16, 2022, Goncalves-Mendes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity – commonly known as RICO conspiracy – and one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Goncalves-Mendes is one of 10 defendants indicted together in June 2020, as part of a broader federal sweep targeting numerous NOB street gang members and associates in which 31 total defendants were charged. All of Goncalves-Mendes’ co-defendants have pleaded guilty to various charges and are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months. 

According to court documents, NOB – an abbreviation for the Norton/Olney/Barry streets in Dorchester – is a violent criminal enterprise whose members and associates are involved in numerous types of criminal activities throughout Massachusetts, including murders, attempted murders, armed robberies, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and illegal firearms offenses. Numerous contraband was seized in this investigation local and federal law enforcement including 11 firearms, over one kilogram of fentanyl (including over 2,000 fentanyl pills manufactured to appear as commercial oxycodone pills), a commercial pill press, over 15 pounds of marijuana and approximately $36,000 in cash.

Goncalves-Mendes was an active, central and violent member of the NOB gang who personally committed, planned and supported various crimes on behalf of the gang – including drug trafficking activities involving fentanyl, including while on state pretrial release.  Additionally, the Court determined that Goncalves-Mendes was responsible for two attempted murders and took those into consideration at sentencing. Specifically, in August 2018, an individual was shot as he sat in his car at a gas station through the car window with a .357 caliber handgun. Later, in November 2018, an individual was shot multiple times with a .40 caliber pistol in broad daylight near their residence in New Bedford. Both individuals survived their injuries.  

First Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Bryan Kyes, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro; Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan; Randolph Police Chief Anthony Marag; Brockton Police Chief Brenda Perez; Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara; Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins; Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald, Jr.; Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III; and Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick W. McDermott made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Crowley and Sarah Hoefle of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit prosecuted the case.