State and local police seized more than two kilograms of cocaine on Friday during searches of three locations in Springfield and South Hadley following an investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.
During the raid, authorities arrested Jarrell Smith, 28, of Springfield, on Haig Avenue in South Hadley on charges of trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to violate narcotics laws, to which he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment at Belchertown District Court.
A Massachusetts State Police statement adds that a search of Smith’s Arthur Street home turned up about 160 grams, which is about a third of a pound, of suspected cocaine and two handguns, one with a fully loaded 30-round extended magazine and a laser sight. The police say that Smith is not licensed for any guns.
As if rents weren’t too high already in Boston, a Dorchester woman has pleaded guilty to skimming even more money off the top with fraudulent charges to Bostonian renters.
So, prosecutors say, Stacey Sanchez-Mercedes, 29, took advantage of the miserable expectations local renters have by charging fake fees and heightened security deposits to renters of Alliance Realty-managed properties, and pocketing the fraudulent money herself. That’s in addition to suspiciously directing tenants to pay their rent to a guy named “George” at a Roslindale barber shop, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s office.
Sanchez-Mercedes pleaded guilty to one count of larceny over $1,200 in municipal court in West Roxbury on Tuesday. Judge Margaret Albertson sentenced Sanchez-Mercedes to a two-year continuance without a finding and to stay away from all victims, witnesses, and Alliance Realty. Restitution will be determined at a hearing scheduled for October.
“Again, we see defendants who think monetary thefts will go unnoticed because there is no physical harm done,” Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “Stealing from a workplace and hard-working neighbors is intolerable and an abuse of power.”
Fagner Chaves De Lima, 42, of East Hartford, Conn., was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Worcester to 41 months, which is three years and five months, in federal prison for illegally conspiring to smuggle people from Brazil to the United States for profit — and, the feds say, he’d milk them for more money while threatening them during their journey.
“I have been doing this for 20 years,” De Lima allegedly messaged a prospective client, who was actually an undercover FBI agent, on May 25, 2022. “It does not matter whether you have a visa, no visa, or if you are wanted by the police. The only thing I care about is the passenger and the money. You understand?”
The fake client told De Lima he was wanting to smuggle a mother and daughter from Brazil to the U.S., a service De Lima said would cost $15,000, but that he would discount the rate to $10,000 if they paired up with a third passenger who “passes in as the child’s stepdad.”
The messages continued through June, according to the FBI affidavit, which also states that De Lima extorted his clients while their journey was underway by threatening to harm them or their family if they don’t keep paying up.
“At its core, human smuggling operations exploit some of the most vulnerable people in our society purely for profit,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy. “We are determined to hold people engaged in this conduct accountable.”