Taunton & Brockton Area Drug Trafficker with Illegal Guns Sentenced to State Prison
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
March 15, 2023
A 39-year-old Taunton fentanyl and cocaine trafficker who crashed into a Massachusetts State Police cruiser in an attempt to flee from arrest last January was convicted of a litany of drug and gun crimes last Friday in Fall River Superior Court and was sentenced to serve up to six years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Luis Garcia Rodriguez pled guilty to indictments charging him with Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, Reckless Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Carrying an Illegal Firearm, Carrying a High Capacity Firearm, Trafficking Cocaine, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine and two counts of Trafficking Fentanyl.
In the Winter of 2021-2022, state troopers from the CINRET-South narcotics task force determined that the defendant was selling fentanyl and other narcotics in the Brockton and Taunton area, and that he was using his apartment at Bay Street apartment in Taunton as his stash house. After approximately eight controlled purchases of narcotics and a GPS warrant on the defendant’s vehicle, the troopers secured search warrants for the defendant, his apartment in Taunton and his vehicle. On January 28, 2022, the troopers served the warrants on the defendant.
Troopers observed the defendant and his girlfriend exit the defendant’s apartment and enter her vehicle. The defendant was driving and the troopers knew that the defendant had a suspended license. The troopers also observed that the defendant was carrying a cross-body bag which they had information that the defendant used to store his narcotics. As the defendant began to drive away, a trooper marked Massachusetts State Police cruiser stopped the woman’s vehicle. As that trooper exited his cruiser and walked to the defendant’s girlfriend’s car, the defendant put the car in reverse and backed up at a high rate of speed. The defendant crashed into another trooper’s cruiser and pushed it back approximately fifteen feet. The collision was with sufficient force that the two air bags deployed in the cruiser. After the collision, the defendant drove away from the scene at a high rate of speed. He pulled into a driveway and fled the vehicle on foot.
Another trooper spotted the defendant a short time later walking down Bay Street and now without his cross-body bag. He was taken into custody and a large quantity of money was taken off of the defendant’s person. The trooper searched for the cross-body bag and discovered the bag hidden in some wooded pallets in the defendant’s path of flight. Inside of the cross body-bag, the troopers discovered a high capacity 9MM handgun loaded with 17 bullets in the magazine. They also located approximately 33 grams of fentanyl and 18 grams of cocaine.
When the troopers executed the search warrant on the defendant’s apartment, they located a 22 caliber handgun which was loaded with 10 bullets in the defendant’s bedroom. They also located approximately 33 grams of fentanyl and 53 grams of cocaine from the defendant’s bedroom, along with packaging and drug paraphernalia and scales. The police also recovered a large quantity of money and boxes of ammunition for the 9mm and 22 caliber handguns.
A total of $3,573.00 was seized from the defendant and his apartment. That money was forfeited by motion during the defendant’s plea hearing last Friday.
Judge Raffi Yessayan sentenced the defendant to serve four to six years in state prison, to be followed by one year of supervised probation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jason Mohan, who had argued for a six-and-a-half to eight years state prison sentence.
“At the time of this incident, the defendant was out on bail for drug trafficking, and has prior convictions that include drug dealing. Yet he continues to traffic in drugs, possess illegal firearms and endanger the lives of officers trying to apprehend him. He clearly is a danger to the public and needed to be taken off the streets to protect the community,” District Attorney Quinn said.
Contact:
Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
774-292-9576