Springfield, Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 120 Months for Conspiring to Distribute Cocaine Base in Central Vermont While Fugitive (DOJ)

Burlington, Vermont - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont stated that on March 2, 2026, Justin Llano, 25, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced by United States District Judge William K. Sessions III to a term of 120 months' imprisonment to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release. Justin Llano previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine base in Central Vermont in two separate cases.

According to court records, over the course of multiple years, first in 2021-2022, and later in 2023-2024, Justin Llano operated a drug distribution operation in cooperation with his brother, Joseph Llano, his uncles, Tanashe Edwards and Edwin Davila, and numerous other co-conspirators, that trafficked cocaine base and fentanyl from Massachusetts to Central Vermont. The group distributed drugs to a large number of customers in Washington, Orange, and Lamoille counties. The defendant was initially arrested after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with federal drug crimes in May 2022. Prior to that arrest, law enforcement had conducted two controlled purchases directly from Justin Llano. During a controlled purchase on April 22, 2022, Justin Llano was wearing body armor and was armed with a handgun when he completed the drug sale, and additional firearms were present in the residence where the transaction occurred. The investigation determined that Justin Llano used his drug customers to obtain firearms in Vermont that he then trafficked to Massachusetts for profit.

In September 2022, Justin Llano was arrested by Springfield, Massachusetts Police for unlawfully possessing a firearm. Thereafter, he failed to report to his pre-trial services officer for his Vermont federal case, and became a fugitive from justice. Beginning in 2023, the defendant resumed trafficking drugs to Vermont while still a fugitive. Justin Llano directed individuals from Massachusetts to travel to Vermont to distribute drugs ("runners"), and had other individuals courier those runners, drugs and proceeds from the sale of drugs between Massachusetts and Vermont. During the course of the conspiracy, the courier that the Llano brothers used to transport drugs made approximately 100 trips between the Springfield, Massachusetts area and Central Vermont. By late 2024, while the courier's activities were being directed by Justin Llano he was making multiple trips each week. On each trip he brought between 50 and 60 grams of cocaine base to Vermont, and at times also brought wax folds of fentanyl. Justin Llano managed multiple runners to distribute drugs in Vermont to customers with whom the defendant arranged drug transactions via a popular social media messaging application. On one occasion in September 2024, when one of the runners reported to Justin Llano that drug proceeds were missing, an armed associate of Llano went to the residence where the runner was distributing drugs and threatened the residents and the runner with a firearm, demanding that they locate the missing money. A search warrant was later executed at that residence by ATF and DEA, resulting in the seizure of cocaine, cocaine base, and fentanyl.

First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended the collaborative investigatory efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, Barre Town Police Department, Barre City Police Department, Berlin Police Department, and Springfield, Massachusetts Police Department.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Turner. Justin Llano was represented by Allan Sullivan, Esq.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.