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A 24-year-old New Bedford man convicted at trial of illegal firearm offenses last week was sentenced to serve up to three-and-a-half years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Aries Ross was convicted by a jury of his peers of indictments charging him with carrying an illegal firearm-subsequent offense and carrying a loaded illegal firearm. The trial in Fall River Superior Court lasted two days and the jury deliberated for less than two hours before returning its verdicts.
On April 25, 2017, New Bedford Police narcotics detectives were conducting surveillance at an intersection where there had been complaints of dealing. Detectives observed several apparent drug transactions and then witnessed several people entering after a series of apparent drug transactions. Police immediately stopped the vehicle, at which point this defendant jumped out of the front passenger seat and began running. He was holding his arm by his waist band, which detectives described as a sign of being armed. One officer chased him a short distance into an alley/driveway where there was no exit. The officer saw him reach into his waist band and pull out an object, and throw it over a fence, making a metallic sound. Police quickly recovered a 9 mm with four rounds in it in the back driveway where he threw the item.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Stephen Nadeau and the two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half year state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Thomas Perrino.
“This case highlights dangerous situations police confront in urban areas on a regular basis. He fled from police for one reason; he was in possession of an illegal loaded firearm. This conduct clearly undermines people’s sense of security in urban neighborhoods,” District Attorney Quinn said.
