BOSTON, Dec. 11, 2014—Two repeat offenders were arraigned today in separate gang-related firearms cases, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JOHN MONTEIRO (D.O.B. 4/6/83) was arraigned today on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and carrying a loaded firearm.  He was additionally charged with unlawful possession of a firearm as a subsequent offense and as a Level I armed career criminal based on convictions for armed assault with intent to rob and firearm possession.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Janezic, chief of the DA’s Gang Unit, recommended that Monteiro be held on $50,000 bail on his current case.  Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Anne Kaczmarek set bail at $35,000 and granted Janezic’s requests that Monteiro wear a GPS monitor and stay away from the location of the offense in the event that he is released on bail.

Shortly after 9:00 p.m. on Aug. 31, Boston Police officers observed two vehicles parked in front of a Columbia Road pizza shop that matched the description of those observed at the scene of an earlier shooting nearby. Inside one of those cars, officers observed several individuals whom they recognized as Wendover Street associates.  Monteiro was observed exiting the other vehicle and entering a pizza shop.  As he returned to the car, officers approached to speak with him and observed through the car’s window a Sig Sauer semiautomatic handgun on the passenger seat, prosecutors said.  The firearm was found to be loaded.

Also arraigned today in Suffolk Superior Court was CHRISTIAN JONES (D.O.B. 5/8/91), who is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm, and being a Level III armed career criminal.  According to prosecutors, he was convicted of distribution of class B substance in 2010, assault and battery in 2009, and adjudicated delinquent in 2005 on a charge of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.  At Janezic’s request, Kaczmarek imposed $30,000 bail.

Janezic told the court that Jones was one of several males observed standing at the top of the dead-end Academy Road at approximately 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 27.  When they saw Boston Police officers, Jones and another member of the group fled through a metal gate.  The remaining group members, alleged to be Academy Homes associates, stood in front of the gate in an apparent effort to block officers from pursuing the two men.

Police apprehended Jones after a foot chase through darkened back yards and over a chain-link fence; while tracing his path of flight officers discovered a shoe that had slipped off Jones’ foot near a loaded .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun.  Officers’ use of a thermal imaging device – which displays radiant heat the way an ordinary camera displays reflected light – indicated that the gun’s heat signature was consistent with having recently been handled, prosecutors said.

Monteiro and Jones were both represented by Joshua Raisler Cohn and return to court on their separate cases Jan. 6.

–30–

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