Southbridge Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Drug Distribution Conspiracy

BOSTON -A Southbridge man pleaded guilty on June 11, 2026 in federal court in Worcester to conspiring to distribute cocaine in Central Massachusetts.

Luis Sastre Pagan, 37, of Puerto Rico and formally of Southbridge, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for Sept. 15, 2026. Pagan was charged in November 2024, along with co-conspirators Eric Rivera and Miguel Lopez.

From in or about April 2023 through April 2024, Sastre Pagan participated in a conspiracy that shipped kilograms of cocaine into Central Massachusetts from Puerto Rico. Evidence showed that the defendant was in communication with co-conspirators before and after the deliveries and that Sastre Pagan was directing the activity of his co-defendants and other co-conspirators as to the activity of the drug trafficking organization in and around Southbridge and Worcester. Over the course of the investigation, four packages related to the drug trafficking organization were seized, each of which were found to contain cocaine. In total, between 15-50 kilograms of cocaine is attributable to Sastre Pagan as part of his participation in the conspiracy.

The charge of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In August 2025, Rivera pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. In November 2025 he was sentenced to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In April 2026, Lopez was sentenced to six years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jarod A. Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Jason Buckley, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the DEA Puerto Rico and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin Brown of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Boston is comprised of agents and officers from HSI, FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS, IRS-CI, USPIS, DOL-OIG and DSS, as well as several state and local law enforcement agencies, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.