BOSTON – A Randolph man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to drug trafficking and firearm charges, following a series of arrests targeting gangs in the Brockton and Randolph areas.Jose Mendes, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy scheduled Mendes’s sentencing for Oct. 5, 2026.
Federal complaints were unsealed against seven defendants charged with drug and firearm crimes in February 2026.On Dec. 17, 2025, authorities executed search warrants at numerous residences and stash houses associated with the Brockton-based Harvard Street Gang and their Randolph-based affiliates. Two of the places searched were Mendes’s current and former residences in Randolph. In Mendes’s bedroom at each residence, loaded handguns and over 100 pressed blue pills containing fentanyl were found. One of the firearms was a Glock pistol with a machinegun conversion device attached and an extended magazine.
Also found was cocaine and methamphetamine in one of the bedrooms. In a basement living room, various items commonly used in large-scale drug trafficking, such as a kilogram press device, a respirator mask, digital scales, plastic bags and bottles of cutting powder were located. Guns and drug trafficking materials found at one of Mendes’s residencesThe charge of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, supervised release for at least three years and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime provides for a sentence of not less than five years and up to life in prison, consecutive to any other term of imprisonment, supervised release for up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000.
Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Colonel Geoffrey D.
Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations, Boston Division; the Abington, Acushnet, Ashland, Boston, Braintree, Bridgewater, Brockton, Chelsea, East Bridgewater, Medford, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Stoughton, Taunton and West Bridgewater Police Departments; Plymouth and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Departments; Massachusetts Department of Correction; and the Plymouth, Norfolk and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Cutshall and Philip A.
Mallard of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit are prosecuting the case.The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.