R.I. drug dealer who flaunted his guns online and on the streets, sentenced to 15 years in prison

Boston Globe

23-05-2025

Marrero pleaded guilty in December to charges of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, court records show.
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'Jose Marrero is a violent, machine gun-trafficking, kilogram-level drug dealer whose history of criminal conduct and vicious behavior threatens us all,' Assistant US Attorney Christine D. Lowell wrote in a
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According to prosecutors, videos and messages from Marrero's cell phone show 'just how active, eager, and dangerous of a trafficker he is.'
In December 2022, Marrero discussed with a drug supplier how he began organizing people to move 2 kilograms of cocaine in a week and how he could be trusted with 2 to 3 kilograms at a time, the sentencing memorandum states. Marrero said he could charge $21,000 per kilogram to lower-level distributors, according to the filing.
'In some of his messages, Marrero discusses having drug runners, complaining about their behavior and demanding higher productivity from them, directing them to locations to provide certain quantities of drugs to customers, and discussing debts owed to him,' prosecutors said in a statement.
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Marrero also made it well known that he possessed a 'significant collection' of firearms, Lowell wrote. He also trafficked and obtained machine gun conversion devices and affixed them to semi-automatic pistols so they could be converted to fire automatically, court filings state.
'He arrogantly displayed himself and others in possession of the weapons in his apartment, while watching TV, playing video games, drinking alcohol, smoking, and driving around the streets of Rhode Island,' Lowell wrote in the memorandum. 'He also made social media posts demonstrating himself and others actively firing the fully automatic weapons outside.'
Because of his two prior drug trafficking convictions on state charges when he was 19 and 25 years old, Marrero could not purchase his own weapons. But he enlisted the help of acquaintances and his girlfriend to do so for him, Lowell wrote. Marrero also accepted firearms as payment for drug sales.
Marrero was 'drawn to drug and gun trafficking and the violence that that life entails,' Lowell wrote.
'As text messages with one of his runners demonstrates, the defendant – feeling somehow 'disrespected' at his daughter's birthday party – 'just snapped' and admitted to 'shooting at' the runner,' Lowell wrote. 'Such an incident demonstrates the defendant's chilling penchant for violence that must be curbed by the sentence he receives today.'
Lowell requested a sentence of 17 years and a term of supervised release of at least four years.
'Despite his numerous arrests and experience in the criminal justice system, Defendant Jose Marrero's criminal history screams of a 36-year-old man [unfazed] by the violence he is prepared to inflict on others,' Lowell wrote. 'The defendant is a danger to society and to his own family as both as a drug dealer and a violent criminal.'
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Court filings show Marrero, through his attorney, Joanne M. Daley, requested a 14-year sentence – the minimum allowed under the plea agreement he signed – and a three-year term of supervised release.
In a letter to the judge, Marrero wrote that he knew he would be going to prison for a long time and said he feels 'so guilty for everything I've done,' especially because of how his actions have impacted his children.
'On paper I am the kind of person I wouldn't want around my own kids,' Marrero wrote. 'But I don't want to be that kind of person anymore.'
Marrero told the judge what he did was 'so childish' as he treated guns 'like my favorite video game, 'Call of Duty,'' and selling drugs was 'all about making money, like the video game, 'Grand Theft Auto.''
'I had a lousy childhood in many ways
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he wrote. 'I have to deal with that with treatment, but I have to grow up too.'
Marrero added he is 'too old for pretending that life is like a video game.'
Christopher Gavin can be reached at