By Tiffany Williams –
Three Worcester men were convicted on Wednesday by a federal jury of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute over 500 grams of cocaine.
From March 2019 through early June 2019, law enforcement intercepted communications involving two cell phones used by Junior Melendez, 41, Juan Rodriguez, 31 and Kevin Jean, 31.
Those interceptions revealed that Melendez, Rodriguez and Jean conspired with Angel Cordova, Antoine Mack, Carlos Richards and others to buy and sell multiple kilograms of cocaine.
Melendez and Rodriguez purchased powder cocaine from Cordova, cooked a portion of that powder cocaine into cocaine base (“crack cocaine”), and then distributed the cocaine – frequently using Jean and Mack as their runners – to their primary buyer, Richards in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Melendez is a convicted felon and has previously served 109 months in federal prison for drug and firearms violations and is the alleged leader of the Massachusetts chapter of the Almighty Vice Lords street gang.
Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencings of all three defendants in September 2022.
NewsTalk New England 