BOSTON — A Lowell man was sentenced to 81 months in federal prison for distributing crack cocaine and possessing two loaded handguns as a convicted felon.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Marc Sanchez, 32, was sentenced on Thursday, Sept. 17, by U.S. District Judge Julia E. Kobick. In addition to the 6-year, 9-month prison sentence, Sanchez was ordered to serve four years of supervised release upon completing his sentence.
In June 2026, Sanchez pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base, along with one count of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. Sanchez was arrested and charged in October 2025 and has remained in federal custody since.
Federal prosecutors say Sanchez was identified as a drug distributor who sold crack cocaine from his apartment in Lowell. On Sept. 17, 2025, a cooperating witness arranged to purchase approximately 1½ ounce of crack cocaine from Sanchez at his apartment. At the time of the meeting, Sanchez was observed meeting with an unknown drug supplier in a vehicle outside his apartment building to obtain powder cocaine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts reported. Sanchez then returned to his apartment with the cooperating witness, where he “cooked” the powder cocaine into crack cocaine, separated and weighed it, and sold it to the cooperating witness. Federal prosecutors say Sanchez also used phone numbers and vehicles registered to other people to conduct drug transactions.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, on Sept. 25, 2025, Sanchez again produced and distributed 1½ ounce of crack cocaine to the cooperating witness at his apartment.
During a search of Sanchez’s apartment on Oct. 1, 2025, investigators recovered additional cocaine, drug-coated cookware, drug-packaging materials, and more than $3,000 in cash. Two loaded 9mm handguns were also recovered from inside a safe.
According to court documents, there were at least four arrest warrants for Sanchez in connection with open criminal cases in Derry District Court in New Hampshire and in Boston, Lawrence, and Lowell district courts in Massachusetts. Sanchez has multiple felony convictions and has served more than two years in Massachusetts state prison in 2018 and 2019.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, FBI Boston Division Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks, Thomas Greco, the special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Boston Field Division, and Lowell Police Superintendent Greg C. Hudon announced the sentence. Police departments in Billerica, Haverhill, Methuen, North Andover, Salem, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire, assisted with the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred M. Wyshak III of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.
