Quincy Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Fentanyl Trafficking Offenses

BOSTON – A Quincy man has been sentenced for drug trafficking offenses in connection with conspiring to distribute and possess, and possessing with intent to distribute, over a kilogram of fentanyl, including counterfeit fentanyl pills.

Damian Cortez, 34, was sentenced on Dec. 15, 2022 by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release. On June 23, 2022, Cortez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Cortez 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 Cortez’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty to various charges and are scheduled to be sentenced in the upcoming 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 items 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 were recovered during the investigation.

Cortez was a significant fentanyl trafficker and NOB member/associate who supplied drugs to and supported various crimes on behalf of the gang.  On June 16, 2020, a search of an apartment where Cortez was residing resulted in the seizure of a commercial pill press, dyes, cutting agent, and over a kilogram of fentanyl, some of which was pressed into pills manufactured to appear as pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone pills, among other drug trafficking paraphernalia.  

First Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; 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; 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. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Crowley and Sarah Hoefle of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit prosecuted the case.