An Everett man was sentenced to state prison yesterday after admitting to carrying a loaded handgun in his backpack down a Savin Hill street last year, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Charles Hely sentenced DEONDRAE FORBES (D.O.B. 12/6/85) to three year behind bars followed by 18 months of probation, the terms recommended by Assistant District Attorney Melissa Brooks of Conley’s Major Felony Bureau. Forbes pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm.

“Every gun conviction takes a potential shooter off the street, and the tipster in this case did the right thing by calling it in,” Conley said. “We have a simple rule in Suffolk County: If you’re caught carrying a gun without a license, you’re going to do time, period.”

Had the case proceeded to trial, Brooks would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that Boston Police responded to a call for a man with a gun on Hancock Street walking toward Pleasant Street.

Officers converging on the area saw Forbes, who fit the suspect’s description, on Dorchester Avenue.
The officers approached Forbes, who denied having a gun. Because of the nature of the call, they pat-frisked him and removed the backpack he had been carrying. In the course of this encounter, the officers received additional information that the gun was in Forbes’ backpack.

The evidence would have shown that the officers looked inside the backpack and discovered a .380 caliber Davis Industries P-380 semiautomatic handgun loaded with four rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber ready to be fired. When asked if he had a license to carry the handgun, Forbes stated, “I don’t have one of those.”

Forbes was represented by attorney Anthony Ellison.