Massachusetts
Man admits to role in fentanyl trafficking conspiracy across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Texas, North and South Carolina
BOSTON – A Rhode Island man pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to his role in a fentanyl trafficking organization involved in the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl pills that spanned across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Texas and North and South Carolina.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 35-year-old Erik Ventura pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Aug. 1, 2024. Ventura was arrested and charged in February 2022 and has remained in custody since.
In September 2019, an investigation began into a drug trafficking organization based in Providence, Rhode Island and known to manufacture large quantities of fentanyl pills designed to appear like pharmaceutical grade oxycodone/Percocet pills and distribute them and other controlled substances throughout the United States. The investigation revealed that Ventura was a trusted member of the DTO and maintained one of the drug stash locations. Ventura transported cash and kilogram quantities of drugs to and from New York on behalf of the DTO, distributed thousands of fentanyl pills to wholesale customers in Massachusetts and was paid by the DTO for his work as a drug distributor. In February 2022, two industrial grade pill presses, approximately 20 kilograms of powdered fentanyl, pressed fentanyl pills and other items, including kilograms of pill binder used in the large-scale manufacturing of clandestinely pressed fentanyl pills, were seized.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement. Special assistance in the investigation was provided by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Providence Field Office; the Drug Enforcement Administration, Providence Field Office; Rhode Island State Police; and the Cranston, Warwick and West Warwick Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey E. Weinstein and Kunal Pasricha of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.
This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.
Can I hear just a few positive things in 2026? Amanda Gutierres of the new women’s soccer team, Boston Legacy FC, at Gillette Stadium. Boston Legacy
For one year — just one year! — What if we all tried to be Mass. boosters, rather than Mass. criticizers, Mass. fault-finders or plain old Massholes?
What if we made that a New Year’s Resolution that we actually stick with until December?
If you’re a resident of Massachusetts, you can undoubtedly add to this list of problems that our state has: high taxes, pricey housing, unreliable public transit, bad traffic, cold weather, elected officials emitting hot air and residents voting with their feet by moving.
But if there was ever a year to look at the Dunkin’ cup as half full, I’d argue that 2026 is it.
A partial list of good stuff we could be bragging about would include:
• An NFL team that won its first playoff game with a quarterback who could be the season’s MVP, and an NBA team that surprisingly has a solid chance of making it to the playoffs.
• Boston is continuing to get better at enjoying winter, with Frostival and Winteractive. A Ferris wheel on the Greenway? A “street snowboarding” contest on City Hall Plaza? I’ll be there!
• The inaugural season of Boston Legacy FC, our new National Women’s Soccer League team, opens in March.
• Seven FIFA World Cup games will be held in Foxborough in June.
• Marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July and other Revolutionary happenings throughout the year.
• Later in July, a fleet of tall ships from around the world arrives in Boston Harbor for Sail Boston.
• Worcester and Auburn are getting ready to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of modern rocketry, with Robert Goddard’s early tests in 1926. In other nerdy news, the MIT Museum has plans to mark the 50th birthday of the biotech industry in Cambridge. Just two of many major industries born in Massachusetts.
Most residents of other states would view two or three of those things as opportunities to boast or back-pat.
They’d invite friends and relatives from all over to come for a visit, and see it as an opportunity to show off their state’s positives — or at least to appreciate the work it took to bring these things together in a single year.
Maybe we should, too.
Traffic will be bad at times. Hotel and Airbnb prices will skyrocket.
And you could live up to the stereotype by bemoaning that. Or you could see 2026 as a pretty great year to live in Massachusetts.
A local woman who was denied a license to carry firearms because of her husband’s “violent and aggressive behavior” has won her appeal in state court.
Barbara Guinane applied to the Manchester-by-the-Sea police chief for an LTC more than three years ago.
The police chief ended up ruling that Guinane was unsuitable and denied the LTC application due to her husband. The chief noted her husband’s violent disputes with neighbors, resulting in police responses to the couple’s home, criminal charges, restraining orders against him, and his LTC being suspended.
Ultimately, the chief argued that issuing an LTC to Guinane would allow her husband to have access to weapons.
After Guinane lost her appeal multiple times in court, she brought her case to Massachusetts Appeals Court.
“We agree with Guinane that her husband’s conduct did not, in these circumstances, furnish adequate statutory grounds for the chief to find her unsuitable,” the Appeals Court ruled. “Therefore, without reaching any Second Amendment issue, we reverse.”
The Appeals Court ordered the police chief to grant Guinane’s LTC application.
She had applied for her LTC in October of 2022. Earlier that year, a neighbor had called 911 to report that Guinane’s husband “came to (the neighbor’s) property yelling about trash cans and was carrying a baseball bat and then smashed a light pole in a fit of rage.”
When police responded, they found the Guinanes sitting on their front porch, where the husband told them, “I know I smashed a light.” He explained that he believed someone had broken into his shed, and he had lost his temper.
The husband was criminally charged with vandalizing property, and the neighbors obtained a harassment prevention order against him. The chief also suspended the husband’s LTC.
Then, the husband and a second neighbor had a verbal altercation, leading to the husband being charged with threatening to commit a crime, and with assault with intent to intimidate based on the victim’s race, religion, color and/or disability. The second neighbor also obtained a restraining order against him.
When Guinane applied for her own LTC, the chief found her unsuitable because of his concern that her husband would have access to the weapons. The chief acknowledged that Guinane herself had no criminal record.
The chief agreed that if Guinane were not married to her husband, “she would be a suitable person.” The chief nevertheless ruled that “it may be a threat to public safety” to issue an LTC to Guinane.
On the other side, Guinane testified that she had taken a gun safety course and had learned “how to use guns safely and to keep them at home also safely.” She had obtained a biometric gun safe and a biometric trigger lock, operable only with her fingerprints, so that “nobody else can use it.”
She further testified that she was a licensed manicurist who operated a nail salon out of their house. Customers sometimes paid her in cash.
In this most recent appeal, the Appeals Court ruled that the chief had no reasonable ground for denying Guinane’s application.
“Although the chief was understandably concerned about public safety, there was no reliable information about behavior by the applicant suggesting that, if issued a license, she would create a risk to public safety or a risk of danger to herself or others,” the court wrote.
“There is no evidence that she engaged in violent or aggressive behavior, or that she assisted or contributed to her husband’s past violent and aggressive behavior, or that she engaged in behavior suggesting that she might be negligent in securing her firearms as required by law,” the court added. “Nor was there reliable evidence that she intended to or might be forced to make firearms available to her husband or any other prohibited or unsuitable person.”
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Bloomberg – Politics
In 2025, University of Massachusetts employees earned some of the largest salaries among state workers.
For example, Francisco Martin, head basketball coach at UMass Amherst, made $2.18 million last year, according to the Office of the Comptroller’s statewide payroll database. Dr. Michael Collins, chancellor of UMass Chan Medical School, made $1.57 million.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts paid a total of $10.89 billion to state employees in 2025, including $1.82 billion to UMass employees, $955.4 million to MBTA employees, $680.68 million to trial court employees and $486.19 million to Department of Developmental Services employees.
The public payroll also lists the 2025 salaries for Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell and other public officials. They didn’t make the top 50, but their pay is listed below.
Check out the 50 highest-paid Massachusetts state workers in 2025.
50 highest-paid state workers in MA in 2025
Here were the 50 highest-paid Massachusetts state workers in 2025, according to the statewide payroll:
- Francisco Martin – UMass Head Basketball Coach ($2.18 million)
- Michael Collins – UMass Chan Medical School Chancellor, Senior Vice President of Health Sciences ($1.57 million)
- Joseph Harasymiak – UMass Head Football Coach ($1.41 million)
- Terence Flotte – UMass Chan Medical School Executive Deputy Chancellor & Provost, T.H. Chan School of Medicine Dean ($1.18 million)
- Partha Chakrabarti – UMass Chan Medical School Executive Vice Chancellor for Innovation & Business Development ($1.01 million)
- Ryan Bamford – UMass Athletic Director ($912,226)
- Martin Meehan – UMass President ($879,454)
- Lisa Colombo – UMass Chan Medical School Executive Vice Chancellor of ForHealth Consulting ($821,872)
- Javier Reyes – UMass Amherst Chancellor ($731,684)
- Donald Brown – Former UMass Head Football Coach ($705,440)
- Gregory Carvel – UMass Hockey Coach ($701,048)
- Marcelo Suarez-Orozco – UMass Boston Chancellor ($699,908)
- John Lindstedt – UMass Chan Medical School Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance ($699,175)
- Kenneth Rock – UMass Chan Medical School Chair in Biomedical Research ($692,780)
- Katherine Fitzgerald – UMass Chan Medical School Department of Medicine Vice Chair ($676,959)
- Gregory Volturo – UMass Chan Medical School Chair in Emergency Medicine ($644,380)
- Mark Fuller – UMass Dartmouth Chancellor ($626,750)
- Anne Massey – UMass Isenberg School of Management Dean ($599,242)
- Peter Reinhart – UMass Institute for Applied Life Sciences Founding Director ($574,265)
- Julie Chen – UMass Lowell Chancellor ($549,614)
- Andrew McCallum – UMass Center for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Director ($544,451)
- David Flanagan – UMass Chan Medical School Deputy Executive Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management ($533,562)
- Donald Towsley – UMass Quantum Information Systems Institute Director ($528,922)
- Fouad Abd-El-Khalick – UMass Provost, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs ($515,870)
- Lisa Calise – UMass Senior Vice President for Administration & Finance, Treasurer ($511,275)
- Phillip Eng – MBTA General Manager ($509,114)
- James Healy – UMass Chan Deputy Vice Chancellor for Management ($496,647)
- Adam Wise – UMass Boston Vice Chancellor for University Advancement ($491,793)
- Mindy Hull – Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner ($491,017)
- Roger Davis – UMass Chan Medical School Program in Molecular Medicine Chair ($486,238)
- Celia Schiffer – UMass Institute for Applied Life Sciences Chair of Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology ($478,484)
- Jeroan Allison – UMass Chan Medical School Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences Chair ($477,782)
- Craig Mello – UMass Chan Medical School Chair in Molecular Medicine ($476,992)
- Mary Ahn – UMass Chan Medical School Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs ($475,597)
- James Watkins – UMass Associate Vice Chancellor for Research & Engagement, Strategic Research Initiatives ($474,133)
- David McManus – UMass Chan Professor and Chair of Medicine ($471,586)
- Richard Gregory – UMass Chan Medical School Department of Molecular, Cell & Cancer Biology Chair ($469,918)
- Maxwell Mayer – UMass Chan Medical School Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences ($469,843)
- Sanjay Raman – UMass Dean of Engineering ($468,972)
- Nefertiti Walker – UMass Senior Vice President for Academic & Student Affairs & Equity ($462,152)
- Fousseni Chabi-Yo – UMass Isenberg School of Management Finance Department Chair ($461,411)
- Murugappan Muthukumar – UMass Wilmer D. Barrett Professor ($460,783)
- Mark Johnson – UMass Chan Medical School Chair in Neurosurgery ($458,421)
- Hong Yu – UMass Lowell Center of Biomedical and Health Research in Data Sciences Director ($458,025)
- Sheldon Zhang – UMass Lowell School of Criminology and Justice Studies Professor ($453,950)
- Albertha Walhout – UMass Chan Medical School Department of Systems Biology Chair, Chair in Biomedical Research ($450,591)
- Zhiping Weng – UMass Chan Medical School Chair in Biomedical Research ($450,591)
- Beth McCormick – UMass Chan Medical School Department of Microbiology Chair ($450,591)
- Shlomo Zilberstein – UMass Amherst Professor of Computer Science ($450,108)
- Abdallah Georges Assaf – UMass Isenberg School of Management Professor ($447,486)
How much did Gov. Maura Healey make in 2025?
Gov. Maura Healey did not break the top 50, making $242,509 as a state employee in 2025, according to the payroll.
Her salary increased from $222,185 in 2024 and $220,288 in 2023.
How much did Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll make in 2025?
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll made $216,292 in 2025, according to the state payroll.
Her salary increased from $198,165 in 2024 and $187,952 in 2023.
How much did Attorney General Andrea Campbell make in 2025?
Attorney General Andrea Campbell made $223,495 as a state employee in 2025, according to the official payroll.
This salary is up from $222,639 in 2024 and $203,401 in 2023.
How much did Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble make in 2025?
Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble made $292,711 in 2025, according to the state payroll. Noble was named colonel in October 2024.
How much did Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin make in 2025?
Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin made $202,427 as a state employee in 2025, according to the payroll.
In 2024, he made $201,850, and in 2023, he made $187,433.
How much did State Treasurer and Receiver General Deborah B. Goldberg make in 2025?
State Treasurer and Receiver General Deborah B. Goldberg made $260,637 in 2025, according to the state payroll.
Goldberg made $238,794 in 2024 and $236,901 in 2023.
How much did State Auditor Diana DiZoglio make in 2025?
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio made $253,494 in 2025, according to the state payroll.
Her salary increased from $229,377 in 2024 and $213,224 in 2023.
How much did former State Police Trooper Michael Proctor make in 2025?
Now-former State Police Trooper Michael Proctor made $3,617 in 2025, according to the state payroll.
Proctor, who served as the lead investigator in the Karen Read case, was put on unpaid leave in July 2024 and then fired in March, accused of violating four department policies.
In 2024, Proctor was paid $79,266, and in 2023, he was paid $146,053.
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