A Boston pastor has been sentenced in two drug trafficking cases, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Willie Wilkerson, a pastor and the owner of Mission Church in Dorchester, was arrested in 2017 on charges of trafficking and intent to distribute Class B and Class C drugs. While out on bail, he continued dealing drugs, being charged again in 2019, according to the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins.
In May of 2017, a search warrant was issued for Wilkerson, his home, the church and a Victoria's Kitchen food trailer he owns. They found drugs hidden inside coffee makers and printers.
The DA's office said those searches found 30 grams of cocaine, 45 oxycodone pills, nine grams of fentanyl, 73 grams of Buprenorphine and about 32 Clonozapam tablets.
On Dec. 31, 2019, another search was conducted. Rollins' office says 23 grams of crack, 45 methadone pills, 259 gabapentin tablets, 62 sildenafil pills and ammunition were discovered.
Wilkerson, 62, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges from both cases, according to Rollins. He was sentenced to four to five years in prison and three years of probation.
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"These cases arose because community members used their voices and raised concerns about crime in the area of Pastor Wilkerson's church," Rollins said in a statement. "That this coward used his church to mask and hide his criminal behavior is awful. His actions inflicted harm on the community and the church congregation he was supposed to be serving."
