BOSTON, March 4, 2016— A Stoughton man was arraigned this week for heroin trafficking after he attempted to hide the drugs in his shoe during a motor vehicle stop, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JOSUA PAGAN (D.O.B. 07/03/81) was arraigned Wednesday in West Roxbury Municipal Court on charges of trafficking heroin and a civil infraction of having no inspection sticker.  At the request of Assistant District Attorney Paul Lewis, Judge Sally Kelly imposed $60,000 bail and revoked Pagan’s bail on an open Suffolk Superior Court case charging heroin trafficking, unlawful possession of ammunition, and money laundering.

A Massachusetts State Trooper on Tuesday pulled over a white Chrysler Pacifica for having a rejection inspection sticker in the area of Canterbury Street. As the trooper approach the vehicle, he could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from the interior of the motor vehicle. The driver seemed nervous and shaky as he spoke to the trooper when asked to provide his license and registration, prosecutors said.

While the trooper issued a citation, Pagan was observed leaning down towards his feet while looking in his driver’s side mirror at the trooper. Concerned that Pagan had attempted to conceal a weapon, the trooper approached the vehicle and asked the defendant to exit. As the trooper was doing a pat-down, he discovered a large amount of money in Pagan’s pocket.  Upon ordering Pagan to remove his shoes, police found a baggie of heroin in each shoe, prosecutors said.

Prior to having the drugs weighed, Pagan allegedly made post-Miranda statements requesting troopers weigh only the smaller of the two bags of suspected heroin, stating that the larger baggie contained coffee and other substances rather than narcotics, prosecutors said.  Troopers weighed both baggies, which had a combined weight of 30 grams.

Pagan returns to court April 4.

–30–

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