A person who was part of a nationwide drug crime ring was found guilty of drug dealing and given a sentence in federal court in Boston. Two loaded Smith & Wesson handguns, an AK-47, a Glock with no serial number, and more than 4,200 rounds of ammunition were found during the investigation.
The methamphetamine weighed more than 160 pounds. A business that grew marijuana illegally and had hundreds of plants was also shut down.
From what the Massachusetts Department of Justice knows, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton gave 43-year-old James Holyoke of Stoughton a sentence of 14 years in jail followed by five years of supervised release.
One count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine was found guilty by Holyoke in August 2022. He was also found guilty of six counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
After being charged with seven others in July 2021, Holyoke was charged again in September 2021 with three more suspects in a superseding indictment. After being caught in August 2021, Holyoke has been in jail ever since.
Late in 2020, Reshat Alkayisi was found to be a large-scale methamphetamine dealer who sent buyers all over New England multiple-pound amounts of the drug. Holyoke was found to be one of Alkayisi’s regular large-scale dealers who bought methamphetamine and sold it to other people in the Boston area.
As part of the investigation, Holyoke helped buy methamphetamine from a cooperative witness 11 times in a controlled way. Because of these controlled sales, more than four kilograms of pure methamphetamine were seized.
Alkayisi admitted guilt in April 2024 and was given a 23-year prison sentence in September 2024, followed by five years of being closely watched while out of jail. Holyoke is the ninth person to be sentenced in this case. All of the other suspects have pleaded guilty and are now waiting to be sentenced.
The news came from Joshua S. Levy, who is acting as U.S. attorney, Jodi Cohen, who is special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston division, and Stephen Belleau, who is acting as special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England field division.
The Massachusetts Department of Correction, the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office, and the police departments of Concord, Hudson, Peabody, Reading, Watertown, and Waltham all helped a lot.
There was also help from the state police in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alathea Porter and Katherine Ferguson of the Criminal Division.
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces is working on this case as part of their work. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency method to find, disrupt, and break up the most dangerous criminal groups that pose a threat to the United States.