The death of a Boston produce delivery driver who police say was found fatally shot in the head and neck in his company’s box truck on the side of the road in Rockingham has been ruled a homicide, Vermont State Police said Monday afternoon.
Police say no arrests have been made in the shooting death of 44-year-old Roberto Fonseca-Rivera and the investigation remains ongoing.
A caller had reported the vehicle parked along the side of Route 103 late Friday, where police found Fonseca-Rivera deceased inside. The windshield also appeared to have bullet damage.
His death comes almost exactly a year after Fonseca-Rivera had been sentenced to prison for his role in a large-scale cocaine trafficking ring that involved shipments of kilos of the drug through the U.S. Postal Service from Puerto Rico to Massachusetts.
According to court records, Fonseca-Rivera was sentenced in federal court in Boston on Nov. 5, 2018, to a year and a day in prison. He had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine
Of the five Massachusetts people convicted in that case, Fonseca-Rivera received the least amount of prison time, with one member of the operation receiving the longest sentence, 17½ years behind bars, according to court filings.
Vermont State Police, who are investigating Fonseca-Rivera’s homicide, have confirmed he is the same person who was sentenced last year on the federal drug charge.
Fonseca-Rivera, as part of his sentence in that case, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. It is not clear when Fonseca-Rivera was released from prison.
Court records filed in that case show that Fonseca-Rivera admitted to his role in the operation as well as the roles of others. Several records in his case had also been filed under seal.
Police have not said if that drug case is tied to the homicide probe.
More than 30 packages of cocaine were shipped in the mail from Puerto Rico to several locations in Massachusetts from January 2015 to July 2016 and retrieved by those involved in the drug operation, according to court records.
According to a statement to investigators filed in the case, Fonseca-Rivera told them that he had retrieved about eight of the packages at two different locations in Massachusetts, receiving payments of $500 for each one.
Carlos Reyes of Framingham, Massachusetts, is the drug ring member who received the longest prison sentence of 17½ years, according to a press release issued at the time from U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling.
Reyes was arrested after drugs were found hidden inside a toy oven stuffed in the trunk of his vehicle during a traffic stop, the release stated.
Police had said Friday that Fonseca-Rivera’s death was “suspicious.” Following an autopsy Sunday on his body the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined the manner of his death a homicide.
The cause of death, according to a statement issued Monday afternoon by state police, is gunshot wound to Fonseca-Rivera’s head and neck.
Maj. Dan Trudeau, head of the Vermont State Police criminal division, said via text he was in meetings all day Monday and was not available to comment.
Windham County State’s Attorney Tracy Kelly Shriver declined comment Monday and referred questions about the ongoing probe to state police.
U.S. Attorney for Vermont Christina Nolan, the state’s top federal prosecutor, declined comment through a spokesperson Monday on whether her office is involved in the investigation.

Fonseca-Rivera, according to police, was working Friday for Katsiroubas Produce of Boston, Massachusetts, and had been in Vermont making deliveries in a company box truck.
Police said his last known location was at about 12:15 p.m. Friday, leaving Rutland heading south on Route 103. Investigators said they believe the shooting took place sometime between 1 and 1:30 p.m. Friday near where his vehicle was located in Rockingham.
Police said Fonseca-Rivera made a stop at the 99 Restaurant in Rutland Town before heading south on Route 103.
The vehicle was found, with Fonseca-Rivera deceased inside, late Friday afternoon on Rockingham Road, also known as Vermont Route 103, between Lower Bartonsville and Williams roads in Rockingham.
State police are asking anyone who saw the delivery truck or has any information about the case to call the Westminster barracks at (802) 722-4600.
Also, investigators ask any businesses, residences or vehicles that may have video showing Route 103 from Rutland at about 12:15 p.m. Friday to Interstate 91 in Rockingham at about 2 p.m. Friday to also call the Westminster barracks.
Ted Katsiroubas, owner of Katsiroubas Produce, could not be reached Monday for comment. WBZ-TV in Boston reported that Katsiroubas described Fonseca-Rivera as a “dedicated” worker, and that was a big reason for hiring him back when he was released after serving his sentence in the cocaine case
“The way that we looked at it,” Katsiroubas told WBZ-TV, “was that he had served his time and he left a very positive impression on us before the incident and we felt that in the spirit of the way that we felt that he was, that we were comfortable with bringing him back and we welcomed him back.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Shooting death of Boston produce delivery driver ruled a homicide.