Fitchburg Man Gets 7 Years in Prison on Federal Drug and Gun Charges

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Thursday, July 02, 2015

GoLocalWorcester News Team

On Wednesday, Miguel River, 31, of Fitchburg was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Worcester for seven year in prison for selling heroin to a cooperating witness and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

According to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's office, Rivera will also have fou years of supervised release following his prison term. In March, Rivera plead guilt to conspiracy to distribute heroin, distribution of heroin, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The charges Rivera faced typically call for a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and no greater than 40 years in prison, a minimum of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $5 million. The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

Between May 2012 and October 2013, Rivera conspired with another individual to sell one hundred grams of heroin to a cooperating witness, and on Sept. 5 and Oct. 4, 2013, Rivera sold heroin to the cooperating witness. In addition, on Nov. 13, 2012, Rivera, having previously been convicted of a felony, illegally possessed a firearm and ammunition.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; and Fitchburg Police Chief Ernest Martineau, made the announcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Dineen Jerrett of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.