New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
A former employee of the City of Boston was sentenced today to eight months in federal prison for distributing cocaine and fentanyl.
Gary “Jamal” Webster, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to eight months in prison and two years of supervised release. The government sought a sentence of 30 months of incarceration.
In November 2019, Webster pleaded guilty to four counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl.
In September and October 2016, a cooperating witness made four controlled purchases of cocaine and one purchase of fentanyl from Webster, who was then the Director of Constituent Services for a Boston City Councilor. He was a project manager for the Boston Planning and Development Agency at the time of his arrest. In total, Webster sold over 300 grams (two-thirds of one pound) of cocaine and 49 grams of fentanyl to a cooperating witness during the two-month period.
This case was part of Operation Landshark, a federal investigation that targeted impact players and repeat offenders in Brockton and Boston, many of whom had prior convictions for acts of violence, firearm offenses and/or drug trafficking.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz; Suffolk County District Attorney Rachel Rollins; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; and Brockton Police Chief Emanuel Gomes made the announcement today. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s North Shore Gang Task Force and Southeastern Massachusetts Gang Task Force. Valuable assistance was provided by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Plymouth and Essex County Sheriff’s Offices; Massachusetts Department of Corrections; U.S. Parole Commission; U.S. Postal Inspection Services; and the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.
Operation Landshark was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. DOJ reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
