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Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced today that a 30-year-old New Bedford man was sentenced to serve seven years in state prison after being convicted of a litany of crimes.
Marcell DePina decided to plead guilty to the seven charges he was facing on Friday, one day after his Superior Court trial had begun.
Mr. Depina was charged with unlawful possession of ammunition (repeat violent offender), possession with intent to distribute cocaine, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, violation of a restraining order and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. After accepting his plea, Judge E. Susan Garsh sentenced Mr. DePina to serve seven years to seven years and one day in state prison. She also ordered Mr. DePina to be placed on probation for four years after his release from prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Carolyn Morrissette and Katie Rayburn.
The charges Mr. DePina faced relate to four spate incidents which occurred in the Spring of 2013.
On March 17, 2013, a female victim was out with friends when the defendant, her boyfriend at the time, began verbally assaulting her. The victim later arrived at 317 Highland St. with her friends. The defendant was there waiting for her. The defendant kicked and punched the victim and then threw her into another car and continued to assault her until she was unconscious.
On March 26, 2013, the female victim received a text message from the defendant, informing her that he was outside her home, in possession of a firearm and threatened to shoot up the house.
On march 28, 2013, New Bedford Police stopped the defendant’s vehicle for speeding. Police could see several bags of marijuana inside the vehicle. After placing him under arrest, police found nine bags of cocaine, hidden in his buttocks area.
On April 26, 2013, the defendant was the target of a search warrant executed by New Bedford Police at his home. Police found one round of 9mm ammunition and 113 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition.
“This is a repeat offender who needed to be kept off the streets for a long period of time. In Bristol County, more than 90 percent of gun crimes are committed with illegal weapons and the vast majority of those are connected to drug dealing,” District Attorney Quinn said. “This defendant had no legitimate reason to be in possession of ammunition except to threaten the safety of others and protect his illegal drug distribution business. The people of Bristol County are safer today thanks to this conviction and lengthy state prison sentence.”
