Brockton Felon Sentenced for Firearms Offense

A Brockton man who was previously convicted of firearms charges was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston on a federal firearms charge.

Dennis Afonso, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Senior Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in April 2018 to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

On May 3, 2017, law enforcement officers in Brockton found Afonso, a previously convicted felon, illegally in possession of a Cobra .380 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number and three rounds of .380 caliber ammunition. Afonso was convicted in 2009 of distribution of cocaine base. He was sentenced to 60 months in prison and had recently completed his period of supervised release when he was found in possession of a firearm on May 3, 2017.

The 2009 conviction was the result of a federal investigation into drug trafficking and related gang activity in the Green Street area of Brockton. According to court documents, Afonso was a member of the Green Street gang, which operates on the north side of Brockton and rivals gangs from the south side of the city. During the course of the investigation, an undercover officer made dozens of controlled purchases of cocaine base from dealers, including Afonso. During that time, Green Street gang members made a verified threat to kill police officers in retaliation for the shooting and death of John Parks by Brockton Police Officers in November 2008.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Brockton Police Chief John Crowley made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn A. MacKinlay, Chief of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.