East Wareham man pleads guilty to drug and money laundering ring charges

May 24, 2017

An East Wareham man connected to a Cape Cod-based money laundering operation pleaded guilty on May 23 in federal court in Boston to drug charges.

Evan Lopes, 28, admitted to possession of Methylone with intent to distribute and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 24. Lopes is the last of four Cape Cod co-defendants to plead guilty to drug and money laundering charges.

On Jan. 15, 2015, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Lopes’ residence where they recovered two kilograms of Methylone from a woodpile on the property. Lopes stashed the drugs for co-defendant David Landry, who, from 2010 to 2014, led a drug and money laundering ring on Cape Cod. Landry, was arrested by state authorities in September 2014, but continued to communicate with and direct his drug associates from prison. Landry had asked Lopes to store the Methylone at his house in preparation for transferring it to other associates who would sell it for $40,000.

From May 2014 to January 2015, Landry and another co-defendant, Justin Groom, conspired to distribute marijuana. Landry, along with his mother, Diane Johnson, and Groom conspired to launder the drug proceeds in order to disguise the nature of the funds and continue their drug trafficking activities. Landry, a convicted felon, was also found in possession of a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol at the time of his arrest.

Landry and Groom were sentenced in March 2017 to 78 months in prison and two years of probation, respectively. Johnson pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy on May 17 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 23.

The charge of possession of Methylone with intent to distribute provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.