A Roxbury man was sentenced to serve up to 22 years behind bars for shooting of two men at a popular Tremont Street bar two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

Adopting the recommendation of Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Walsh, Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly sentenced NATHAN KINNEY (D.O.B. 2/26/84) to serve 10 to 12 years in state prison for the charge of armed assault with intent to murder, four to five years for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and three to five years for unlawfully possessing the firearm he used to shoot a patron and a doorman at Slade’s Bar and Grill on the morning of Nov. 22, 2008. Connolly ordered the sentences to run consecutive from one another.

“This defendant threatened the life of his intended victim, could have killed an innocent bystander, and put at risk everyone on the street that night,” Conley said. “This sentence was appropriately harsh and we hope it sends a message to the defendant and anyone else who would use a gun on our streets.” more »

The state’s highest court today upheld the convictions of a Dorchester man who helped to murder a teenage mother and the unborn baby she carried more than 10 years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

The Supreme Judicial Court’s unanimous 11-page decision ensures that LORD HAMPTON (D.O.B. 1/3/79) will continue to serve the two life sentences he incurred in 2004 when a Suffolk Superior Court jury found him guilty of the first-degree murders of 14-year-old Chauntae Jones and the eight-month-old fetus inside of her. Jones and her baby died on or about Sept. 28, 1999, in a shallow grave near the site of the former Boston State Hospital. Another man, KYLE BRYANT (D.O.B. 10/23/81) of Mattapan, was acquitted of those same offenses at a separate trial.

“It’s a fact of the criminal justice system that convictions are appealed,” Conley said. “We’re prepared for that. We try cases with the highest ethical standards and we defend those cases with an unparalleled Appellate Division. This was one of the most awful crimes in this city’s history, and this perpetrator deserves every day of his sentence.” more »

An Allston man convicted last month of raping one woman, and who faces a second trial for the rape of another woman in unrelated incidents two years ago, was today sentenced to serve up to 30 years behind bars, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

On May 19, a Superior Court jury convicted PAUL L. CARMICHAEL (D.O.B. 1/20/70), of aggravated rape, kidnapping, and assault and battery for the July 22, 2008 rape and beating of a then 25-year-old Cambridge woman in his Allston Street apartment. He was acquitted of a fourth charge of aggravated assault and battery. He was sentenced today to a term of 25 to 30 years in prison followed by five years of probation.

“There’s no question that an extremely dangerous person is off the streets today,” Conley said. “The verdict can’t undo the horror he perpetrated, but the sentence can ensure that it doesn’t happen again.” more »

Beau James Youngs died when another man slid a knife between his ribs during a fight that began over the alleged killer’s panhandling technique, a Suffolk County homicide prosecutor said at the suspect’s arraignment today.

The Suffolk County Grand Jury on June 24 indicted KEVIN JAMES (D.O.B. 11/1/66), a.k.a. KEVIN WILSON, for a single count of manslaughter in connection with Youngs’ April 30 stabbing death outside a downtown pharmacy. That charge reflects evidence developed in the two-month investigation that began shortly after Youngs was rushed to an area hospital for a fatal stab wound to his chest.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman of Suffolk DA Daniel F. Conley’s Homicide Unit recommended that James be held on $1 million cash bail, noting that he has an extensive criminal record in states from Rhode Island to California. more »

A rabbi who once taught schoolchildren in Brookline was arraigned today for allegedly assaulting one of them in Brighton more than 30 years ago, bringing the number of his alleged victims to three, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

STANLEY Z. LEVITT (D.O.B. 4/4/46) of Philadelphia was arraigned on a single count of indecent assault and battery on a child – the fifth such indictment currently pending against him in Suffolk County. Levitt was indicted late last year on four counts of the same offense representing offenses he allegedly committed upon two other boys.

Assistant District Attorney Wayne Margolis of Conley’s Child Protection Unit told Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Gary Wilson that the most recent allegations came to light following those prior indictments. more »

A man and woman were held on high bail yesterday following their arrest and arraignment for allegedly stabbing a 51-year-old man during an attempted robbery at the foot of Beacon Hill Friday evening, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

KAREEM PITTS (D.O.B. 12/27/89) and DIANA ALLEN (D.O.B. 9/19/91) were arraigned in the Boston Municipal Court yesterday on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed assault with intent to rob for the June 25 attack at the corner of Mt. Vernon and River Streets.

Assistant District Attorney Andrius Knasas noted “the seriousness of the facts” before requesting that each defendant be held on $50,000 cash bail; Boston Municipal Court Judge Annette Forde granted that request. more »

An East Boston man will spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting 28-year-old Jeff Santiago to death and injuring two other men during a “rampage” in a Chelsea strip club two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

<p></p>A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted JESSE CAMACHO (D.O.B. 5/7/87) of first-degree murder for Santiago’s Jan. 25, 2008, shooting death at King Arthur’s Lounge and two counts of attempted murder for shooting and injuring two other men during the same incident. One of those victims was an associate of Santiago and the other was an employee of the club.

<p></p>Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady sentenced Camacho to the mandatory life term without the possibility of parole for Santiago’s murder, plus two additional terms of 10 to 12 years for the non-fatal shootings. At the request of Conley’s chief trial counsel, Patrick M. Haggan, Brady ordered those sentences to run consecutively. more »

A Framingham man was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation following his arraignment today for allegedly trying to run over two pedestrians on Tremont Street and then leading Massachusetts State Police on a wild, high-speed chase.

Boston Municipal Court Judge Annette Forde remanded ALEJANDRO SERRA (D.O.B. 3/30/81) to Bridgewater State Hospital this afternoon during a hearing in which he was formally charged with more than a dozen assault and motor vehicle offenses for his alleged actions before and during yesterday’s pursuit.

In addition to ordering the evaluation, Forde also revoked Serra’s bail on an open assault and battery case out of Roxbury District Court and set $5,000 on an open trespassing case out of the Boston Municipal Court. more »

A Roxbury man faces sentencing Wednesday following his conviction for a double shooting outside a popular Roxbury bar two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury on Friday convicted NATHAN KINNEY (D.O.B. 2/26/84) of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious injury, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

The charges arose out of a fight inside Slade’s Bar and Grill on Tremont Street on the morning of Nov. 22, 2008, and Kinney’s choice to produce a handgun and shoot one combatant and a doorman, injuring both. Jurors acquitted Kinney of an additional count of assault and battery. more »

The Suffolk County Grand Jury this week returned an additional indictment against a rabbi who once lived in Brighton and is already accused of sexual assaults on two young students during the 1970s, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Wednesday’s indictment is the fifth to charge STANLEY Z. LEVITT (D.O.B. 4/4/46) of Philadelphia with indecent assault and battery on a child. He is expected to be arraigned on the new complaint in the Magistrate’s Session of Suffolk Superior Court on June 30.

The grand jury late last year indicted Levitt for four sexual assaults he allegedly committed on two boys who were about 11 years old at the time. One charge arises out of a May 1975 incident in which Levitt allegedly visited a student who was recuperating at Children’s Hospital in Boston after an accident. The other three offenses were allegedly committed against a different male student during a three-night visit to Levitt’s Chiswick Road home, also believed to have taken place in 1975. more »

A man with no fingerprints was held on half a million dollars’ cash bail this week after Boston and federal investigators recovered 361 grams of heroin in his pants, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JORGE FALCON ORTIZ, believed to be 28 and living at an unknown address, was held on the $500,000 cash bail recommended by Conley’s office at his June 23 arraignment on charges of trafficking in a Class A substance. If convicted of trafficking in more than 200 grams of heroin, Ortiz faces a 15-year minimum mandatory prison term.

Called to assist U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents in the course of that agency’s investigation, Boston Police on Tuesday afternoon responded to the intersection of South and Bussey streets in Roslindale to stop a 2006 Honda Civic. more »

Just hours before a state trooper killed by a drunk driver was laid to rest in Brockton yesterday, a New Hampshire man was arrested for leading Boston Police on a wild, high-speed pursuit through the Financial District and into the North End, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JOSEPH Z. SHELZI (D.O.B. 10/30/87) of Pelham, New Hampshire, was arraigned yesterday in the Boston Municipal Court on a litany of charges that included negligent operation of a motor vehicle, driving with a suspended license, and four counts of failing to stop or yield.

The $3,500 bail that Shelzi posted in cash shortly after his 2:45 a.m. arrest was maintained at arraignment. Assistant District Attorney Elle Rackemann recommended that Shelzi’s bail on an open drunk driving case out of Lawrence be revoked; Judge Mark Hart Summerville declined to grant that request. more »

The widowed mother of a murdered Mattapan teen said today that walking in her own hometown was too painful to bear because of the deadly violence wrought on its streets by men like the one who killed her son.

Convicted this morning of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of DeAndre Barboza, PATRICK GRIER (D.O.B. 7/11/88) of Dorchester was sentenced this afternoon to the mandatory punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Before that sentence was imposed, Barboza’s mother addressed the court. more »

A Woburn man accused of stealing a car from a motorist, leading police on a chase, and briefly escaping after crashing in Dorchester was held on high bail and sent for a mental health evaluation following his arraignment today, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

MATTHEW BURKE (D.O.B. 1/12/78) was arraigned in the Boston Municipal Court today on charges of carjacking and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon –the stolen motor vehicle – for his alleged actions in Boston’s South End yesterday. Suffolk prosecutors recommended that he be held on $100,000 cash bail; Judge Edward Redd set bail at $48,000.

At the request of defense attorney Robert Solomon, Redd also ordered Burke to undergo a 20-day mental health evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital. more »

A Suffolk County Gun Court jury yesterday convicted a Roxbury man of carrying an unregistered firearm and six rocks of crack cocaine after being chased by a sharp-eyed officer who first saw his associate with a knife, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ALPHONSO WESLEY (D.O.B. 8/22/89) of all charges – unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm, and possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute – for his Feb. 2 arrest near Dudley station.

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Rimar of Conley’s Gun Prosecution Task Force recommended that Wesley serve a total of five years in jail with 2½ years committed and a second 2½-year term suspended for a five-year probationary period. Rimar further recommended that Wesley be ordered to stay away from the Dudley Square area, undergo drug testing, and be supervised by the Office of Community Corrections. more »

A Suffolk Superior Court judge yesterday ordered a Lynn man to Bridgewater State Hospital after prosecution and defense experts agreed that he suffered from a major mental illness at the time he stabbed his mother, Lisa Bryson Roche, to death two years ago.

Judge Charles Spurlock found CORY ROCHE (D.O.B. 6/15/84) not criminally responsible for Bryson Roche’s Feb. 25, 2008, stabbing death after an unusual jury-waived trial in which Suffolk County homicide prosecutors and Roche’s defense team stipulated to the underlying facts of Bryson Roche’s death. The only live testimony came from three psychiatric experts who diagnosed Roche with paranoid schizophrenia and concurred that he could not conform his behavior to the law when he killed the 42-year-old woman in the basement of her Revere home.

Prosecutors called the verdict a just one. Although the prosecution expert agreed that Roche was not criminally responsible for his actions, prosecutors sought to build a record of Roche’s actions and ensure that he remains in a secure and structured setting for the foreseeable future. Massachusetts law allows for a defendant such as Roche to remain hospitalized for an indefinite, and possibly lifelong, period. more »

“Let’s call it what it is,” the prosecutor said from a lectern facing 16 jurors chosen from hundreds for their fairness and impartiality. “It’s the execution of a 16-year-old boy.”

Assistant District Attorney John Pappas was referring to the Dec. 1, 2008, shooting of DeAndre Barboza near the intersection of Lyndhurst and Washington streets. Barboza sustained injuries that claimed his life two days later.

On trial for the Mattapan teen’s homicide is PATRICK GRIER (D.O.B. 7/11/88) of Dorchester, who allegedly fired several shots at Barboza at 9:08 a.m. amid the bustle of a busy Codman Square street corner and then fled on foot. more »

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted a former state hospital patient of raping a 14-year-old girl in 2008 while she was a participant in a summer volunteer program at the hospital, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

VERNON THOMPSON (D.O.B. 1/28/70), a former patient at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, was convicted of two counts of rape of a child for bringing the victim to a stairwell in one of the hospital’s buildings and raping her. Sentencing is scheduled to take place Thurs., July 22 at 2 p.m. The maximum sentence for rape of a child is life in prison.

“Throughout her ordeal, the young woman in this case has displayed courage and great resilience,” Conley said. “She defied her fears and confronted her abuser in open court, possibly saving another young girl from victimization.” more »

Members of Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s Gang Unit swept an annual awards ceremony last week, earning accolades for their work to assist victims and prevent violence by holding violent felons accountable for their actions.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Janezic, deputy chief of the Gang Unit, received the Brian J. Honan Award for Excellence in the Courtroom and the Communities We Serve at the seventh annual Suffolk Awards, held Thursday evening at Suffolk University. The Suffolk Awards, implemented by Conley when he took office, honor achievements by office staff during the previous year.

Janezic, who left the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office to prosecute gang-related violence as an assistant DA, “spends his days in court and his nights in the community,” Conley said, “with no extra compensation but the satisfaction that he’s doing the right thing. There’s a word for that: it’s dedication, and Joe Janezic defines it.” more »

They were two men carrying the tools of their trade. One, 27-year-old Jeff Santiago, carried a tool belt, tape measure, and other accoutrements of his job as a construction worker. The other, JESSE CAMACHO (D.O.B. 5/7/87), carried a loaded, unregistered handgun.

“They were two men who had never even met,” Suffolk County Chief Trial Counsel Patrick Haggan said this afternoon during opening statements in Camacho’s murder trial. “They were two men whose lives crossed paths one night with devastating consequences.”

Camacho is charged with first-degree murder for Santiago’s shooting death at King Arthur’s Lounge in Chelsea shortly after midnight on Jan. 24, 2008. He is additionally charged with two counts each of armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly shooting two other men – one a friend of the victim and one a doorman at the club – and unlawfully possessing the firearm with which he shot them. more »

The Dorchester man accused of gunning down 19-year-old Aaron Brown at a YMCA dance last summer was held without bail at prosecutors’ request following his arraignment for the slain teen’s murder, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

SHERMAN BADGETT (D.O.B. 2/23/91) is charged with first-degree murder for Brown’s fatal shooting, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for shooting and injuring another youth, and unlawful possession of the firearm he allegedly used on those victims at 776 Washington St. on the night of Aug. 29, 2009.

“We as a community need to denounce the person who brings a loaded gun to a teenage dance party,” Conley said. “We need to denounce the code of conduct that makes it acceptable to anyone anywhere.” more »

A West Coast man was arraigned in Boston today on charges that he swindled thousands of dollars from Boston-area residents who separately used the web site Craigslist to buy phony tickets to last night’s Celtics-Lakers playoff game, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

EDWARD S. LOPEZ (D.O.B. 9/22/67) a.k.a. JASON MARTEL of Whittier, California, was held on a total of $3,000 cash bail following his arraignment on three counts of larceny over $250 by scheme. Lopez incurred the charges by allegedly selling three bogus tickets to a Back Bay woman, three more her sister, and four to a Stoneham man who was not related to the other victims.

Lopez was apprehended after the first victim notified Boston Police and used her sister and that woman’s boyfriend to buy three more tickets as detectives looked on. The Stoneham man’s case came to prosecutors’ attention this morning as the case was headed to arraignment in the Boston Municipal Court. more »

Eleven Suffolk County prosecutors, victim-witness advocates, civilian investigators, and support staff will be honored tonight at an awards ceremony recognizing their achievements during the past year.

The seventh annual Suffolk Awards will be held this evening at Suffolk University Law School. Instituted by District Attorney Daniel F. Conley during his first year in office, the awards are based upon nominations by office staff and come with a $1,000 bonus. They honor members of a public safety agency that is chronically underfunded and understaffed but responsible for more than 40,000 criminal cases each year.

Awards are presented to outstanding district and superior court staff. Prosecutors assigned to Conley’s Superior Court trial teams are eligible for awards named after prior district attorneys Newman Flanagan and Ralph C. Martin II. Members of the office are also eligible for awards named after former Boston City Councilor Brian J. Honan and murdered gang prosecutor Paul R. McLaughlin. The latter has only been presented twice in its history. more »

The state’s district attorneys today honored a West Roxbury man with an award for victim services named after a former DA, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said.

Michael Coffey, who recently observed his 25th year as a Suffolk County victim-witness advocate, was awarded the Gerard D. Downing Advocate of the Year Award at the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association annual meeting in Worcester.

Coffey began his career as a Suffolk County victim advocate in 1985, shortly after the Victim’s Bill of Rights was signed into Massachusetts law and at a time when “there was no roadmap or precedent for the responsibilities he was assuming,” Conley said. more »

Two men and a woman were held on high bail this week for allegedly firing a handgun on Logan Way and then leading Boston Police on a car chase that ended when the female driver crashed on Massachusetts Avenue, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

KALISE FITZGERALD (D.O.B. 10/21/81), TYLER KEE (D.O.B. 4/19/90), and SKILAR MORRIS (D.O.B. 5/28/92), all of Roxbury, were arraigned Monday in South Boston District Court following their arrests for the June 6 incident. All were charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number in the commission of a felony, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

Morris, the driver, was additionally charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, failure to stop for police, and assault and battery on a police officer. She and Fitzgerald each incurred an additional charge of resisting arrest as well. more »

>“The wounds are deep,” Assistant District Attorney Stacie Moeser said of the injuries to four men stabbed near a Revere subway station five years ago. “You heard about the operations. You saw the scars.”

Speaking in closing arguments, Moeser urged a Suffolk Superior Court jury to convict ERVIN MEMUSHAJ (D.O.B. 8/22/82), a one-time South Boston resident, of one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and three counts of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The victims were a Revere man, then 27, and his Winthrop friends, ages 22, 25, and 26 at the time.

Prosecutors say the victims had attended a party at Club Lido on the night of Feb. 11, 2005, and were headed to their vehicles just before 2 a.m. on Feb. 12 when they encountered the defendant at the Wonderland Station parking lot. more »

A Dorchester man was held without bail today following his arrest and arraignment for allegedly stabbing 42-year-old Tai Yee to death last night, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

THANH VAN TRUONG (D.O.B. 1/1/55) was charged with a single count of murder for allegedly stabbing Yee in the chest at about 9:30 last night, causing an injury that later claimed Yee’s life at Boston Medical Center. Dorchester District Court Judge Robert Tochka ordered him held without bail.

Prosecutors believe the two men were arguing inside Truong’s apartment prior to the fatal altercation and were among several people present at the time. At some point, that altercation spilled outside and escalated into a physical fight. It was during that fight, prosecutors say, that Truong stabbed Yee with a steak knife. more »

A teenage gang member brought a loaded .45 to a Chelsea strip club two years ago and “turned what should have been a barroom scuffle into an execution,” a Suffolk County prosecutor told a Superior Court jury this morning.

Charged with first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Jeff Santiago, JESSE CAMACHO (D.O.B. 5/7/87) of East Boston opened fire at King Arthur’s Lounge in what Chief Trial Counsel Patrick M. Haggan called “a shooting rampage” that also left one of Santiago’s friends and a club employee with gunshot wounds to their legs in the early morning of Jan. 25, 2008.

After two full weeks of testimony, Haggan delivered his closing arguments this morning and told jurors that Santiago died “face down on a dirty, beer stained barroom floor” as his “cowardly killer” walked away trying to fire a gun he’d emptied after shooting seven separate shots. more »

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley last week presented two mechanical engineering doctoral fellows with plaques thanking them for their “efforts to reduce gun violence and improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods.”

Conley’s office on Friday presented the plaques to Priam Pillai and Adam Wahab, both of whom are pursuing doctoral degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to thank them for their work with the DA’s Gun Prosecution Task Force. Both men have testified as expert witnesses in the Suffolk County Gun Court, which fast-tracks cases of unlawful firearms possession and boasts an overall conviction rate of almost 90%.

Pillai and Wahab have told judges and juries about the science behind thermal imaging devices such as the Bullard TI Commander, which records heat output the way a conventional camera records reflected light: when the device is trained on a recently-discarded handgun, the body heat retained by the gun’s metal frame shows up as brighter than the area surrounding it. This can be used to corroborate a police officer’s observations that a suspect was carrying and tossed a firearm, and can dispel a claim that a recovered gun had been in place and untouched for an extended period of time. more »

The Suffolk County Grand Jury today indicted a Dorchester teen for allegedly gunning down 19-year-old Aaron Brown at the YMCA on Washington Street last summer, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

The indictments charge SHERMAN BADGETT (D.O.B. 2/23/91) with first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for Brown’s fatal shooting at 776 Washington St. on the night of Aug. 29, 2009.

“Long after a case leaves the headlines, Suffolk prosecutors and Boston Police continue to work their cases,” Conley said. “Sometimes an arrest comes in days or weeks. Sometimes it takes months or years. But they will never give up on a case, a victim, or a grieving family.” more »

The day 16-year-old DeAndre Barboza was shot began like most others for people in Codman Square, Assistant District Attorney John Pappas told a Suffolk Superior Court today, with people hustling to work and school.

“But there was another person who started his day a different way,” Pappas said. “He started his day by arming himself with a gun.”

Pappas told the court that PATRICK GRIER (D.O.B. 7/11/88) concealed a Harrington & Richardson .22 caliber revolver with a sawed-off barrel and obliterated serial number on his person and headed to Codman Square on the morning of Dec. 1, 2008. Once there, he encountered DeAndre Barboza and shot him, causing injuries that would cause his death on Dec. 3, just one day after his 17th birthday. more »

One of the two men charged with murdering a Hyde Park mechanic was so incensed by a faulty engine that he went to the man’s auto body shop and threatened to “come back to shoot up the place,” a Suffolk County prosecutor said during a homicide arraignment today.

MARIO BURNS (D.O.B. 10/5/72) and CORNELIUS EVANS (D.O.B. 6/19/75) were formally charged today with first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition, for the March 29 shooting death of 36-year-old Charles Cantave, a Hyde Park resident who worked in Brockton. The Suffolk County Grand Jury indicted the duo yesterday.

Assistant District Attorney Holly Broadbent, who led the grand jury investigation for Suffolk DA Daniel F. Conley’s office, told the court that, approximately three weeks prior to the shooting, Burns and his wife had gone to the garage where Cantave worked and “confronted him over the sale of a faulty engine” that his wife had purchased for her Volvo. more »

A Mattapan man was held on $1 million cash bail today following his arraignment for trafficking in one of the largest quantities of marijuana ever seized in Boston, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

EDGAR GONZALEZ (D.O.B. 6/15/69), a.k.a. FELIX BAEZ SOTO, was also held on an immigration detainer lodged by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. In addition to setting the high bail, Judge Rosalind Miller ordered Gonzalez to return to court on June 30.

“This is the single largest seizure of marijuana in recent memory,” Conley said. “Detectives said they hadn’t seen such a quantity in at least 20 years.” more »

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley this week met with a trio of fifth-graders after they wrote award-winning essays as part of their school’s Peace Night writing competition.

Earlier this year, the John Marshall Elementary School challenged its fifth grade class to write an original essay, poem, or song to explain how they would bring peace to the world. The assignment asked students to identify their dream careers and explain how they could improve their communities and promote peace through their goals. The school invited members of Conley’s office and local community groups to choose the top three essays from 100 entries.

On June 1, after a guided tour of Roxbury District Court, Conley took winners Kashaye Everette-Charles, Leidineice Pereira, and Alysha Baez to lunch at The Olive Garden in Dorchester’s South Bay Shopping Center. more »

A man was held on high bail at arraignment today after Transportation Security Administration officials discovered a large quantity of cocaine in his checked baggage at Logan Airport, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

LUYONGA MUKASA (D.O.B 11/09/1964), of Bedford, Texas, was held on $200,000 cash bail following his arraignment in East Boston District Court on charges of trafficking in more than 200 grams of cocaine. Prosecutors had sought $500,000 bail.

Shortly after 8:15 p.m. yesterday evening, Conley said, TSA requested assistance at the American Airlines bag room regarding a suspicious laptop checked onto its flight to London’s Heathrow Airport. Upon examination of the laptop, officials found a plastic bag containing a powdery white substance beneath the loose keyboard. The Massachusetts Port Authority Fire Department responded for a possible hazmat situation, but a field test indicated that the substance was in fact cocaine. more »

A 60-year-old Plymouth man was arraigned today on charges that he tried to kill his wife by strangling her as she lay in her bed at a downtown hospital Friday afternoon, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JOHN J. RILEY (D.O.B. 11/1/49) was charged with assault and battery on a person over the age of 60, assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery, for the May 28 attack on his 66-year-old wife at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Assistant District Attorney Andrius Knasas requested that Riley be held on $50,000 cash bail. Boston Municipal Court Judge Tracy-Lee Lyons set bail in the amount of $45,000 and additionally ordered him to stay away from and have no contact with the victim or Massachusetts General Hospital. more »

A Massachusetts Turnpike toll taker pleaded guilty today as his trial was set to begin on charges that he pocketed money from motorists amid a seven-moth investigation by State Police and Suffolk County prosecutors, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

KING CHAN (D.O.B. 3/19/58) of Wellesley admitted to a single count of larceny over $250 and 10 counts of false entry on corporate books for keeping more than $1,000 in tolls he collected between October 2007 and May 2008.

Prosecutors recommended that he serve three months in jail followed by three years of probation, pay full restitution, and perform community service. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano sentenced Chan to three years of probation and ordered him to pay the restitution. Chan will lose his job and his pension as a result of the criminal case, Conley said. more »

The suspects in the Sunday evening shooting death of 14-year-old boy Nicholas Fomby-Davis were held without bail at prosecutors’ request, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said, noting that the slain boy was “a truly innocent victim.”

JOSHUA FERNANDES (D.O.B. 8/8/93 and CRISOSTOMO LOPES (D.O.B. 2/27/90), both of Dorchester, were formally charged in Dorchester District Court with Fomby-Davis’ murder. Fernandes was additionally charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and discharging a firearm within 500’ of a dwelling. Pleas of not guilty were automatically entered by the court. more »