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Over 10,000 pills, a firearm and 200 rounds of ammunition were seized in May 2021
Advocate Staff Report
A 26-year-old Malden man will begin serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison term in January 2024 on the federal drug charges of trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine disguised as Adderall, Xanax and oxycodone in Malden, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. The charges stem from a raid on a Malden residence in May 2021 where a firearm, ammunition and large quantities of altered drugs were seized. Matthew Ramos, 26 of Malden, last week pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston to one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, 40 grams or more of fentanyl and other controlled substances.
Ramos is scheduled to appear before a district court judge for sentencing on January 18, 2024. According to the terms of a plea agreement, Ramos faces a sentence of 90 months in prison. Ramos and co-defendant Igor Desouza, 27, also of Malden, were indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2021. Desouza pleaded guilty to related charges on August 31, 2023, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1.
According to reports, Ramos and Desouza were arrested after a search of a Malden residence where they both lived on May 25, 2021. Authorities said that during the search they recovered a firearm, over 200 rounds of ammunition, black tar heroin, MDMA crystals, cocaine, doses of LSD and nearly 10,000 pills, which included the following: thousands of methamphetamine pills pressed to resemble Adderall or Xanax, thousands of fentanyl pills (some mixed with xylazine) pressed to resemble oxycodone, thousands of MDMA tablets, amphetamines and oxycodone.
The charge of distribution of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, 40 grams or more of fentanyl and other controlled substances provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, four years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of $5 million, authorities said.
