BOSTON, June 25, 2015— A Dorchester gang member will serve at least a year and a half behind bars for possessing a firearm that Boston Police recovered while investigating a pair of Independence Day shootings two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury yesterday convicted HENRY COAKLEY (D.O.B. 2/2/86) of unlawful possession of a firearm.  After the verdict was returned, Judge Linda Giles sentenced Coakley to 2 ½ years in the house of correction, with 18 months to serve and the remainder suspended for a probationary period of two years.  During that time, Coakley must earn his GED, remain employed, and not reoffend.  If he complies with those terms, the he will face no further jail time; if he does not, he could be ordered to serve out the entire sentence.

Though not accused of a direct role in either of the two shootings that took place within minutes of each other around July 4, 2013, Coakley had strong ties to one of the groups believed to be involved in both of them.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Brodigan of the DA’s Gang Unit presented evidence and testimony to prove that Coakley possessed a loaded Colt .25 caliber pistol that was located by Boston Police executing a search warrant at 49 Rosedale St.

At approximately 9:25 p.m. on July 5, 2013, Boston Police officers attempted to stop a green Ford Explorer matching the description of a vehicle used in a shooting on Theodore Street 10 minutes earlier.  The vehicle failed to stop for police, and officers briefly lost sight of it as it drove the wrong way on Rosedale Street.  Officers were soon able to block the vehicle’s path after it emerged from a Rosedale Street driveway and drove at the officers’ cruiser.

Officers observed blood inside the Explorer; the driver allegedly made statements leading police to believe that the blood belonged to an associate injured in yet another shooting that occurred on Columbia Road at approximately 9:05 that night.  Upon receiving information from a 911 caller that a man had run from the vehicle into 49 Rosedale St., officers entered the address to look for anyone who may have been injured and in need of medical attention.

Officers made a forced entry into one apartment at the address and located Coakley, apparently uninjured.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, police obtained a warrant to search the apartment.  Officers recovered the Colt pistol with one round of ammunition from a gym bag in a bedroom closet.  Also located in the bag were Coakley’s Rhode Island ID and Social Security card, and a paycheck and personal papers bearing Coakely’s name were found in the same bedroom.  Brodigan introduced these items in evidence to prove that the bag and its contents – including the gun – belonged to Coakley.

Coakley was represented by Lavina Bullock.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.