A suspected drug dealer caught up in Nantucket’s biggest ever coke bust has been defended by residents as ‘a person of high character working towards bettering himself.’
Locals came out in support of Francisco Fernandez Sanchez, 31, this week after police say they busted him with over 2.5 kg of cocaine alongside an array of drug paraphernalia and scales.
Residents in the affluent town sent letters claiming Sanchez poses no threat to the community, despite prosecutors saying the seizure that led to his arrest was the largest cocaine bust in the history of Nantucket Island with an estimated street value over $257,000.
Ahead of a hearing on Tuesday to decide whether Sanchez would be released on bail as he prepares for trial, a number of his friends and family including residents of the liberal billionaires’ enclave submitted letters on his behalf, reports the Nantucket Current.
The letters reportedly described Sanchez as a man of high character who was attempting to turn his life around.
Sanchez’ attorney Patrick Callaghan also pleaded with the judge for his release, saying he was in the military in his native Dominican Republic before he moved to the US legally with a green card in 2018.
Callaghan tried to claim his client was ‘not a danger to the community,’ despite the severity of the charges he faces.
But Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Diane Freniere was not impressed with the arguments and interrupted Callaghan as he made his case with a blunt rebuttal.
‘Cocaine kills people,’ she shot back at him – before setting Sanchez’s bail at $75,000 cash.
Sanchez faces a minimum of 12 years behind bars if convicted on drug charges, with prosecutors alleging that he is a major dealer to the affluent Martha’s Vineyard area.
‘He appears to be a major local supplier to the island, perhaps even to the Vineyard,’ Cape and Islands assistant district attorney Shaunna Souve said at a previous hearing.
Martha’s Vineyard is a favored summer hangout of the great and the good, meaning anyone who sets up a drug-dealing operation on the island would likely have a captive audience willing to pay top dollar for illicit substances.
Freniere sided with prosecutors who argued that Sanchez is a danger to the community, as she massively upgraded the $25,000 bail amount sought by his defense.
‘He is dangerous, putting a large quantity of drugs out in the community,’ Freniere said.
‘Bail is high, but it reflects both the volume and the state of the evidence. I suggest you start thinking about resolving this case sooner rather than later.’
Sanchez has remained in custody since he was arrested in February, and he had not posted the bail at the time of writing.
Callaghan said Sanchez had been in and out of the United States since he was an infant, and had been a legal resident with a green card since 2018, after immigrating from the Dominican Republic.
President Trump has taken a dim view of permanent residents like Sanchez accused of committing serious crimes.
Sanchez’s recent arrest could end up seeing him deported from the United States if convicted.
The warm response he received from locals in Nantucket comes as the affluent area has a complicated history with the migrant crisis in recent years.
In 2022, locals who often touted their acceptance of migrants came under scrutiny when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis bussed dozens north after they crossed the border.
The move led then-Governor Charlie Baker to controversially move them all to a military base in protest, in a controversy that garnered national scrutiny on sanctuary policies.
When Sanchez was arrested in February, it was the result of a five-month sting operation where law enforcement tracked multiple large cocaine buys from the 31-year-old, officials said.
Assistant District Attorney Dana Hatchell said at Monday’s bail hearing that the Nantucket Police Department used a confidential informant to make four ‘controlled buys’ of cocaine from Sanchez.
Hatchell said detectives followed Sanchez to locations in Martha’s Vineyard and Lawrence, Massachusetts, and saw him selling as much as 10 ounces of cocaine per week.
The sting operation came to an end when officers raided a home on February 7, where they allegedly found over two kilograms of cocaine, alongside paraphernalia including a crack pipe and a spoon.
Souve claimed at a previous hearing that officers also found ‘packaging material, scales, clear plastic bags, dryer sheets, calibration tools and rolled up dollar bills.’
‘They also found approximately $700 in various denominations within this defendant’s possession, a passport belonging to this defendant. They also did a field test of the small amounts of material and confirmed the substance to be cocaine,’ she said.
Callaghan also claimed at Sanchez’s first court hearing that his client was an upstanding citizen who was ‘extremely cooperative with police when they arrived’ and even ‘went back to the station and gave a full statement to the police, certainly to his detriment.’
‘But this is a gentleman who I would not qualify as a danger in the community,’ he said at the time.