Nelson Carrasquillo pleaded guilty to conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin
Nelson Carrasquillo's crimes were "extraordinarily dangerous" to the community because they threatened to erode the public's trust in police officers."What you did you did for greed and just for your own personal gratification, that will reflect on police everywhere," Young said.He said corrupt police officers "may be rare, but you are one."Carrasquillo was part of a trio of officers snarled in one of the more embarrassing scandals in Boston Police Department history. The case raised concerns about wider corruption in the department after testimony in one defendant's trial revealed potentially troubling conduct by other officers. It prompted Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis to publicly vow to press for the strictest sanctions against officers who violate the law.
Carrasquillo, dressed in an orange prison uniform, apologized before the sentencing to the court, his family and his supporters. In November, the 36-year-old Dorchester resident pleaded guilty to conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin and two counts of attempted aiding and abetting the scheme.
"Have mercy on me," said Carrasquillo, who also received five years of probation. He described the last several months as a learning experience and said he would like "the opportunity to give back."
His lawyer, Stephen Neyman of Boston, said in an interview after the proceedings that he would appeal the sentence. He was seeking about eight years, significantly less than the nearly 20-year maximum the judge calculated in court yesterday afternoon under federal sentencing guidelines.
Neyman called Carrasquillo's role in the scheme minor, emphasizing he was a reluctant participant. But both the prosecutor, Assistant US Attorney John T. McNeil, and the judge said yesterday that Carrasquillo was a sort of middleman.
Carrasquillo was recruited by another police officer, Roberto "Kiko" Pulido, in late 2005 to pitch in with a drug smuggling scheme. Carrasquillo then recruited a third officer, Carlos Pizarro.
On April 23, 2006, Carrasquillo assisted Pulido with a drug deal by providing counter-surveillance and monitoring Police Department radio channels while a transfer of 40 kilograms of cocaine took place at a garage on Washington Street in Boston, according to the US attorney's office.In exchange for their assistance, the two officers split a $20,000 payment.Then, on June 8, 2006, the three officers guided a truck containing about 100 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated wholesale value of more than $2 million from Western Massachusetts to the Washington Street garage, according to the US attorney's office.Once in Boston, Carrasquillo provided surveillance while another truck picked up the cocaine. They were paid a total of $51,000 by FBI agents posing as drug dealers.The three officers were arrested in Miami in July 2006 by federal agents, who had been investigating the officers for months.The undercover agents, shortly before arresting the three, secured an agreement from the officers to protect another drug shipment: 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of heroin.Pizzaro, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced in December to 13 years in prison. Next month, Williams will consider a possible sentence of more than 20 years for Pulido, who has pleaded guilty to weapon and narcotics charges.Yesterday, more than a dozen of Carrasquillo's relatives and friends, some with tears in their eyes, sat in two wooden rows of the courtroom and watched as a US marshal handcuffed him and escorted him out of the courtroom. A few of them told Carrasquillo they loved him.A woman Neyman identified as Carrasquillo's wife said little as she walked out of the courtroom with her family.
