BOSTON – A Dominican national, living in Haverhill and Methuen, Mass., has been arrested and charged for allegedly conspiring to distribute approximately 600 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl.
Jose Radhame Sanchez, 41, was charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Sanchez was arrested yesterday and following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, was ordered detained pending a hearing scheduled for May 6, 2025.
According to the charging documents, in April 2025, Sanchez allegedly sold a total of approximately 600 suspected fentanyl pills to a cooperating source. Specifically, on April 9, 2025, in Lawrence, Sanchez allegedly distributed approximately 200 suspected fentanyl pills pressed to resemble 30 milligram oxycodone pills. It is alleged that Sanchez had a minor child with him in the car during the transaction. On April 17, 2025, Sanchez allegedly distributed approximately 400 counterfeit oxycodone pills suspected to contain fentanyl at a restaurant in Methuen.
It is further alleged that, in 2024, two suspected overdose victims were found in Sanchez’s Haverhill residence. On one occasion, in February 2024, law enforcement found a female who had overdosed at the residence. The female victim survived. It is alleged that, although Sanchez told law enforcement at the time in 2024 that he had found the victim “on the side of the road in his neighborhood and allowed her into his home” and “denied having knowledge that the female was a drug user,” recent phone records allegedly revealed that Sanchez had contacted the victim 171 times in less than a week in March 2025.
On another occasion, in April 2024, a two-year-old child was found unresponsive and not breathing at Sanchez’s residence. According to court documents, the minor victim later tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine. Sanchez also allegedly tested positive for cocaine at the time. The minor victim survived.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The defendant is subject to deportation upon completion of any sentence imposed. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Annapurna Balakrishna and Andrew Caffrey are prosecuting this case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.
