A “skilled” drug chemist who helped flood Greater Boston with methamphetamine will spend more than a decade in prison for his role in the enterprise.
U.S. Senior District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV sentenced Schuyler Oppenheimer, who went by “SK” and conducted illicit trade with Chinese suppliers under the name “Michael Sylvain,” according to court documents, to 13 years in federal prison.
Oppenheimer, 35 of Cambridge, was arrested in July 2024 and pleaded guilty in January to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and two counts of wire fraud.
Authorities say that Oppenheimer’s drug business was partially funded through $40,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans.
FBI Special Agent Eric Poalino described Oppenheimer repeatedly in a lengthy affidavit supporting the charges as a “skilled” drug chemist. A rap sheet included in court documents shows drug charges — convicted or otherwise — dating back to 2008 and at the time of his arrest on July 18, Oppenheimer was on pretrial release for three pending cases.
In addition to his own record, law enforcement was already on to him because he is suspected “to historically have been a technician for other large-scale pill producers in Massachusetts,” according to Poalino’s affidavit.
That includes working for North Shore fentanyl kingpin Vincent “Fatz” Caruso, who along with his mother in 2021 pleaded guilty to operating a large-scale drug trafficking organization specializing in pressed fentanyl pills and was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. Caruso and a lieutenant of his, Ernest “Yo Pesci” Johnson, who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, gained notoriety through posting photos of their lifestyles to social media.
High-stakes save
Boston Fire Department firefighters saved a crane operator stuck in his cab at Conley Terminal in South Boston Saturday, despite the dangerous weather conditions.
The Department cheered the firefighters who worked “over 200 feet in the air under extreme weather conditions, high winds and heavy rain.” The department did not say how the crane got stuck.
Incident Summary
BPD responded to 249 incidents in the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the department’s incident log. Those included four robberies, one aggravated assault, two residential burglaries, three thefts from a car, two auto thefts, and 26 instances of miscellaneous larceny.
Arrests
All of the below-named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
— Nicole Anderson, no address listed. Trespassing.
— Kesner Forestale, no address listed. Trespassing.
— Sean Ribeiro, 112 Southampton St., Boston. Trespassing.
— Peter Antonaros, 4 Doncaster St., Roslindale. Possession of Class C drugs.
— Korie Berry, 93-95 Hyde Park Ave., Jamaica Plain. Possession of Class A drugs.
— Kaitlyn Quick, 39 Boylston St., Boston. Warrant.
— Marina Coelho, 35 Northampton St., Boston. Possession of Class B Drugs.
— Jason Toomer, 5 Toplift St., Dorchester. External warrant.
— Xavian Alvarado, 434 Georgetown Drive, Hyde Park. Shoplifting more than $250.
— Aidan Walsh, 20 Powell St., Boston. Shoplifting more than $250.
— Suker Francois, 18 Livingstone St., Boston. Operating an uninsured motor vehicle.
— Donald Villard 151 Hallet St., Dorchester. Carrying a firearm without a license.
Courtesy/Boston Fire Department
Boston firefighters saved a trapped crane operator 200 feet in the air on Saturday. (Courtesy/Boston Fire Department)
BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Downtown Crossing that occurred Thursday night.
Officials said the shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. near Tremont and Temple Streets.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a man with a gunshot wound; he is expected to survive.
Police have not said if any arrests have been made.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Local News
An East Boston father is suing ICE, alleging immigration agents unlawfully stopped, arrested, and detained him because of his race and national origin despite having his legal status, his lawyers said.
Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Jose Pineda, a 62-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades and is authorized to remain and work through humanitarian relief, the nonprofit legal organization said in a press release.
The suit is seeking damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, and severe emotional distress.
“I came to the United States to escape the civil war that devastated El Salvador. I worked hard, started a family, and built a life here,” said Pineda, who works as a landscaper and lives with his wife and 13-year-old daughter. “I never expected to feel that kind of fear again, much less in the United States.”
According to the 30-page complaint, written by LCR senior attorneys Victoria Miranda and Mirian Albert, Pineda has been a recipient of Temporary Protected Status, which allows certain foreign nationals from designated countries to live and work legally in the U.S.
Pineda also had a pending asylum petition and had been granted a T visa, which provides immigration protections to trafficking victims, the complaint states.
“We will not stand idly by as ICE wreaks havoc on immigrant families. Through racial profiling, ICE agents are carrying out an unquestionably discriminatory agenda,” Miranda said in the release. “The law exists to protect people like Mr. Pineda, and it must be enforced against ICE.”
The lawsuit stems from a May 2025 encounter in Weymouth, where Pineda was driving a landscaping truck to a job site when agents in unmarked ICE vehicles surrounded him, according to the complaint.
“The aggressive nature of the questioning made it clear to Mr. Pineda that he was not being judged based on any evidence of unlawful conduct, but rather on his identity, race, ethnicity, and/or national origin,” Pineda’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit alleges ICE officers then “forcibly” handcuffed and shackled Pineda before taking him to the agency’s field office in Burlington.
Officers searched Pineda’s belongings during the stop and again at the field office, allegedly confiscating $600 in cash that he intended to use to pay his family’s rent. The money has not been returned, according to the complaint.
Pineda spent two days in ICE custody under what the lawsuit describes as “cruel and inhumane conditions.”
“After what ICE did to me, and after everything my family has endured, I don’t know if I will ever truly feel safe again,” Pineda said.
According to the complaint, he was held in severely overcrowded cells containing more than 40 people — at times as many as 60 — leaving little room to sit and forcing him to remain standing for much of his detention. Detainees also allegedly shared a single toilet and sink without soap or toilet paper and were not provided toothbrushes, clean clothes, or showers.
Fluorescent lights remained on around the clock, making it difficult to sleep, while temperatures became “extremely cold” overnight and some detainees received only aluminum blanekts for warmth, the complaint states.
Pineda was given only a two-minute phone call during his detention and received two bottles of water each day, along with “inadequate and limited” food and water, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Pineda has suffered devastating and ongoing physical and emotional harm that has impacted all aspects of his life,” his attorneys wrote. “Mr. Pineda brings this action to seek accountability for these violent and traumatizing tortious acts of the ICE officers and to address the harms inflicted upon him.”
According to LCR, Pineda was released following advocacy by Centro Presente, a Massachusetts immigrant rights organization.
After his release, ICE initiated removal proceedings against him depsite his humanitarian protections, the organization said. Those proceedings were ultimately dismissed.
“ICE targeted Mr. Pineda based on nothing more than his perceived national origin and the nature of his work,” Albert said in the press release. “Our laws prohibit this kind of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Through this lawsuit, we seek to hold the federal government accountable for the violence and harm inflicted on Mr. Pineda.”
ICE referred questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
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BOSTON (WHDH) – A pedestrian was hit and killed in Roxbury Thursday morning.
The collision occurred just before 8:20 a.m. on Tremont Street.
Police said Tremont Street was closed in both directions between Brigham Circle and Roxbury Crossing.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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