By Tiffany Williams –
Albert Lee, also known as “Mook,” 32, of Pawtucket, R.I., and Cameron Cartier, 28, of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts both members of a Cape Cod heroin trafficking ring, sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to 10 years and nine years in prison for their roles in a violent kidnapping captured on video.
Lee was sentenced today to nine years in prison and three years of supervised release. In September, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Cartier was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release. In October, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice by retaliating against a witness, victim or informant.
Both Lee and Cartier were charged in a superseding indictment that included co-defendants Edwin Otero, Justin Joseph and Anthony Basilici in March 2020.
In 2018, law enforcement began investigating a Cape Cod drug trafficking organization led by Otero. That investigation revealed that Otero and other members of the crew distributed large quantities of heroin throughout Cape Cod, including in Hyannis, Mashpee, Centerville, Osterville and in Pawtucket, R.I.
In April 2019, as part of the conspiracy, Otero lured a known victim from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, where Otero, Cartier, Lee, Joseph, and Basilici kidnapped and held him, stripped him naked, assaulted him and threatened to rape him.
The purpose of this kidnapping and assault was to retaliate against the victim because the crew erroneously believed the victim was cooperating with law enforcement. Basilici filmed the kidnapping and assault on Otero’s cell phone. Otero’s phone was later recovered with the video on it.
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