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A 32-year-old New Bedford man with a lengthy history of conviction was sentenced to serve six to nine years in state prison last week after being convicted of trafficking large quantities of cocaine and possessing an illegal firearm, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
James Bean pleaded guilty on December 31 to indictments charging him with trafficking cocaine, unlawful possession of an illegal firearm with at least one prior violent crime conviction, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a high capacity firearm and unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device.
In November 2017, New Bedford Police detectives began investigating the sale of narcotics involving the defendant out of his girlfriend’s apartment at 448 Rivet Street in the City of New Bedford. On November 30, 2017, police executed a search warrant at the residence. When they arrived, police located a Nike sneaker shoebox containing a Rohm G10 revolver and a gun case; a Smith & Wesson 59 .9mm high capacity firearm, 78 rounds of .9mm ammo, 213 rounds of .22 caliber ammo; two high capacity magazines and 77 bags of cocaine, digital scales and cutting agents suggestive of distribution.
At the time of his arrest, the defendant was on probation after being convicted previously of two unarmed robbery cases.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kristen Wiley and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Debra Squires-Lee.
“This defendant has a history of committing violent crimes and is a danger to the community. While out on probation, he remained undeterred and continued to sell drugs while possessing a high capacity firearm. The public needs to be protected from this defendant, who will now be off the streets for up to nine years,” District Attorney Quinn said.
