The Suffolk County Grand Jury today returned indictments charging a man with witness intimidation and disrupting a court proceeding for shouting taunts at a prosecution witness, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

DENNIS JONES (D.O.B. 1/5/67) was held on $20,000 cash bail at his district court arraignment on identical charges a week ago today. The indictments move his case to Suffolk Superior Court, where he will be arraigned at a later date. Witness intimidation is a felony that carries up to 10 years in state prison; disrupting a court proceeding carries up to a year in a house of correction, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

The rapid indictment follows a Feb. 22 incident in which Jones – who had been seated in the courtroom’s packed gallery – stood up and began shouting at a testifying witness, calling the witness a “rat” and a “snitch.” Court officers immediately escorted him from the courthouse. The trial Jones disrupted remains ongoing. Jones is not related to anyone involved in that case.

Boston Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk DA’s office began searching for Jones in the days that followed; members of the Boston Police Fugitive Unit located and arrested him on March 1.
Jones is represented by attorney Michael Coyle.