New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced today that a 23-year-old Taunton cocaine dealer who robbed a gas station in Taunton last year was sentenced to serve four to six years in state prison this week.
Devante Fisher pleaded guilty Monday in fall River Superior Court to charges of distributing a class B substance and armed robbery while masked. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jeanne Veenstra and the sentence was handed down by Judge Gregg Pasquale.
On May 14, 2014, Massachusetts State Police Gang Task Force members were working undercover in Fall River. One undercover officer approached Mr. Fisher and told him he wanted to buy cocaine. The defendant, took the undercover officer’s pre-marked cash and went into a home on Orange Street. Moments later, the defendant came out of the house and a handed the undercover officer a bag of cocaine. He was then arrested.
Then, on July 16, 2015, Taunton Police were dispatched to the Broadway Sunoco station in Taunton at 3:15 a.m. for a reported armed robbery. The male clerk told police that a short black male wearing a ski mask entered the gas station armed with a knife and demanded all the cash in the register. The clerk handed over cash from two cash registers and the defendant fled on foot. He was identified and arrested in Taunton about a month later.
“The prosecution of armed robberies committed against innocent people and businesses will continue to be a priority of my office,” District Attorney Quinn said. “These type of robberies have a negative impact on a community’s sense of well-being and will be aggressively prosecuted by my office. It is no surprise that the defendant was also convicted of selling drugs.”
