Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney's Office
District of Massachusetts
For Immediate Release
Friday, September 21, 2018
Andrew E. Lelling
Contact: Christina DiIorio-Sterling
Two Springfield Men Sentenced for Federal Firearms and Drug Charges
BOSTON - Alexis Ayala, 40, and Wilfredo Perez, 38, were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to six years in prison and six years of supervised release, and one year in prison and three years of supervised release, respectively, on firearms and drug charges.
Ayala and Perez previously pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin. Ayala also pleaded guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On April 5, 2015, Perez and Ayala distributed 200 doses of heroin, worth $550, to a government witness in Springfield. Ayala, a previously convicted felon, also sold two firearms to a government witness. Specifically, on Dec. 15, 2015, Ayala sold the witness a Walther P22 pistol equipped with a laser sight, which had been reported stolen to the Springfield Police on Sept. 4, 2014; and on Aug. 8, 2016, Ayala sold the witness a Smith and Wesson MP40c .40 caliber pistol.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri; and Holyoke Police Chief James Neiswanger made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil L. Desroches of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
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