A third man from New Bedford, Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty in federal court to using a firearm during a drug trafficking crime connected to a shooting in Saco, Maine. Jason Johnson-Rivera, also known as “Ouda,” age 20, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Johnson-Rivera was charged following a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury on March 19, 2025. His codefendants, Joshua Estrada (“Mac”), 20, and Yancarlos Abrante (“Glizzy”), 22, had previously pleaded guilty on September 25, 2025.
Court records state that on February 9, 2024, Johnson-Rivera and his codefendants fired at least five rounds from a 9mm handgun into another vehicle due to a dispute over drug trade. After the shooting, they fled the scene by driving against traffic and running a red light before crashing into another car and a school bus. Video footage from another driver captured them leaving their vehicle and fleeing on foot. The investigation found that Estrada and Abrante had been involved in cocaine trafficking in Saco and Biddeford since at least January 2024.
Johnson-Rivera faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of ten years, with the possibility of up to $250,000 in fines and up to five years of supervised release. Sentencing will take place after the U.S. Probation Office completes its presentence investigative report. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by multiple agencies including the Saco Police Department, FBI’s Southern Maine Gang Task Force, U.S. Border Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with help from the New Bedford Police Department.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence through collaboration between law enforcement agencies and communities nationwide. More information about Project Safe Neighborhoods can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psn.