Former New Bedford Resident Sentenced to Ten Years on Drug and Narcotics Offenses

Ordered excluded from New Bedford for four years after his release

BOSTON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A former New Bedford resident was sentenced in federal court to ten years incarceration on drug and firearms offenses, and was ordered not to return to New Bedford for four years after his release from custody.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Glenn N. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in New England, and Ronald Teachman, Chief of the New Bedford Police Department, announced today that Shane Anthony Swann, age 38, formerly of 349 Belleville Avenue, New Bedford and originally from Boston, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Tauro after having pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

The case arose out of a search of Swann's residence on February 23, 2006, in which New Bedford police located a .380 caliber pistol loaded with 7 rounds of ammunition in a bedroom and 16 rounds of 9mm ammunition in an office area. Police also found hidden inside a home theater subwoofer speaker a .38 caliber revolver loaded with three rounds of ammunition, a 9mm pistol loaded with 14 rounds, an unloaded 9mm pistol, 6 rounds of .380 caliber ammunition in a magazine, 20 loose rounds of .380 caliber ammunition, 7 loose rounds of .38 caliber ammunition, and two unloaded magazines. Officers also recovered amounts of crack cocaine and cocaine, over $11,000 in cash stashed throughout the residence as well as miscellaneous drug distribution paraphernalia.

In addition to the ten year sentence, the government sought, and the Court issued, an order excluding the defendant from the City of New Bedford during the four-year supervised release period following his prison term. The government noted that after several arrests in his hometown of Boston, the defendant moved in the late 1990's to New Bedford, a community to which he previously had no ties, where he became a major cocaine dealer. The government contended, and the Court agreed, that excluding the defendant from New Bedford would promote the safety of the city's residents.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Bedford Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Mitchell of Sullivan's Economic Crimes Unit.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: U.S. Attorney's Office

CONTACT: Christina Diiorio-Sterling of the U.S. Attorney's Office,
+1-617-748-3356, usama.media@usdoj.gov

2008-02-27 17:49:52 0300115 PRNEWSWIRE