Lawrence Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution Fentanyl

BOSTON - A Lawrence man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to distributing fentanyl.

George Jimenez, 31, pleaded guilty to distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for Feb. 5, 2025. Jimenez was initially charged by criminal complaint in October 2023.

On Sept. 27, 2022, Jimenez sold 99 grams of fentanyl to a cooperating witness in Methuen which was captured on video by a recording device.

The charge of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. 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.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN..

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.