High school booster club says former treasurer embezzled about $200K

Mass. man who supplied gang with ‘particularly dangerous' drugs began drinking, smoking at 13

Yahoo

5 hours ago

Yahoo

Mass. man who supplied gang with ‘particularly dangerous' drugs began drinking, smoking at 13

At just 13, a Massachusetts boy turned to alcohol and marijuana. By 15, he was hooked on heroin. Now, three decades later, the scars of that addiction run deep — and at 39, he's been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a Massachusetts-based drug ring. Brian Gingras, also known as 'Cheech,' was sentenced June 4 to nine years in prison. Gringas pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams and more of methamphetamine. Gingras' 'first encounter with the criminal justice system was in 2003, when he was 17 years old. The next 20 years of Defendant's life would be an uninterrupted parade of arrests and criminal court cases,' court documents state. 'Most of these cases did not result in convictions, but the records illustrate in stark relief Defendant's unwillingness or inability to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.' Read more: How one machine supercharged illicit drug manufacturing in Mass. In 2019, Gingras' parents bought him a home. Three years later, investigators searched that home 'finding substantial evidence of Defendant's crimes.' Investigators also said the 'unkempt home' was 'in disarray.' 'Drugs were found in nearly every room of the house, some of which were clearly being used,' court documents state. 'Defendant himself appeared to be in distress, and he was removed from the scene in an ambulance.' Thousands of 'particularly dangerous imitations' of Adderall pills that were supplied by a Massachusetts gang looked like the real pills but were filled with a compound of methamphetamine and caffeine. The pills had become increasingly popular and prevalent in Lowell. They were similar in shape, size, and appearance to genuine Adderall but were typically pressed with methamphetamine by local drug traffickers using pill presses, court documents state. Gingras was the source of the pills and other drugs, such as cocaine and counterfeit 'Xanax bars,' to the Asian Boyz gang, according to court documents. He was distributing wholesale quantities of cocaine and various illicit pills. He had all the equipment necessary to produce the pills himself, including an industrial pill press, which is legal in the U.S. The machines are largely unregulated and available for purchase online. In the garage, officials found a broken pill press covered in drug residue. Historically, pill presses were used in the pharmaceutical profession and by people who make their own dietary supplements, such as bodybuilders or naturopaths. Read more: A Mass. man bought an illegal depressant online and took his life. The seller will go to prison Gingras also maintained a large quantity of the drugs at a commercial storage facility, court documents state. Inside the storage unit, officials found 250 grams of methamphetamine pills, over 1 kilogram of etizolam pills, bags of suspected marijuana, boxes of THC extract and edible products and over 30 kilograms of caffeine pills that looked identical to the counterfeit 'Adderall' pills made with methamphetamine. Bill Phim, also known as 'Bonez,' of the Asian Boyz gang, told an undercover officer that he coordinated the supply of methamphetamine pills with other Asian Boyz gang members and associates, including Gingras. Between May 2022 and September 2022, officials said Gingras met with Phim prior to planned deals to personally deliver pills. In total, Gingras supplied Phim with about 5,200 pills during this time period, consisting of over 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds) of methamphetamine, court documents read. Gingras sold the pills for about $1 per pill. 'Phim, in turn, re-sold the pills to the undercover officer for a significant profit, at the price of $3.50 per pill,' court documents read. Phim, 37, of Lowell, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He will then be on five years of supervised release. Read more: Will Mass. lawmakers take action on illicit drug-making machines? Public comment sought. Between February 2022 and April 2022, Erickson Dao, also known as 'Silent,' 32, of Lowell, delivered the counterfeit pills to Phim at least five times. Phim then sold the pills to an undercover federal agent for more than $11,000. On 12 different dates in 2022, Phim sold these counterfeit 'Adderall' pills to an undercover agent. In total, Phim sold the undercover agent over 10,000 pills for more than $36,000. Chemical testing confirmed that the pills were a dangerous compound of methamphetamine and caffeine. When investigators searched Dao's residence, they discovered thousands more counterfeit 'Adderall' pills and large quantities of cocaine. Gingras was seen making 'brief visits' to the back door of Dao's house, 'where Dao routinely engaged in drug transactions,' court documents state. Dao was sentenced to more than seven years in prison. He will then be on four years of supervised release. Read more: We bought a machine that makes fentanyl pills. It wasn't hard Gingras said he was not part of the Asian Boyz gang. However, court documents state he was highly associated with them, including knowing one of the leaders. After the seizure of the drugs, investigators suspected that they had completely disrupted Gingras drug operation. Over Facebook Messenger, another suspected Asian Boyz gang member Samnang Son, or 'Smiley,' told Gingras that he was 'poor.' Gingras responded, 'Me too. I went from balling to crawling.' 'Defendant's response was revealing, capturing his state of mind in the immediate aftermath of the demise of his own illicit drug operation,' court documents read. When officials went to arrest Gingras the next day, they found him at a location in Lowell that is 'frequented by drug addicts and known as a place to obtain and use illicit drugs.' Read more: Hidden in plain sight: Where pill presses have been uncovered in Mass. Court documents state his addiction and mental health issues were considered when deciding his sentence. However, court documents state, 'this case suggests that Defendant even embraced a life of crime.' Officials hopes the nine years in prison gives Gingras 'significant opportunity to participate in the programming available,' including Bureau of Prison's Residential Drug Abuse Program. Netflix movie with well-known comedians needs paid background actors How pink heart shaped fentanyl led to Mass. father's 18-year prison sentence Botulism cases linked to Botox injections under investigation in Massachusetts ICE deportation blocked by Boston judge: Migrants now in shipping container in Djibouti Mass. State Lottery winner: Father will take children to Disney with $100K prize Read the original article on MassLive.

Chicago police officer fatally shot in Chatham neighborhood was struck in back: autopsy

Yahoo

a day ago

Yahoo

Chicago police officer fatally shot in Chatham neighborhood was struck in back: autopsy

Earlier in what would be her final shift, Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera took two guns off the street, authorities said, only to come face-to-face with a rifle later that night. Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran with a young daughter who lived in the Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, was killed after the Gresham (6th) District tactical team she was part of tried to conduct an investigatory stop on a person believed to have a weapon about 9:50 p.m. on Thursday in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue. The first Chicago police officer to be killed in the line of duty this year, Rivera was mourned by city officials and her fellow officers, who praised her work ethic and asked Chicagoans to keep her family in their prayers. 'Our officer was young, vibrant and a hard worker,' police Superintendent Larry Snelling said, speaking from the University of Chicago Medical Center early Friday morning. 'She was a working police officer trying to keep the streets safe.' Flanked by department brass, Mayor Brandon Johnson and other city and state officials, Snelling gave some details about the shooting, but did not offer a full picture of exactly how the shooting unfolded. In response to a reporter's question about the gunfire, Snelling said investigators were waiting on a warrant to search the apartment where the shooting happened. 'Here's the deal: We won't know that until the search warrant is served and we are able to go through that apartment and collect more evidence. The evidence that we collect usually … gives a story of what occurred in there,' Snelling said. 'So until we have all of that information we can't rely on just one source at this time.' An autopsy found that Rivera was shot in the back. A CPD spokesperson declined to comment on the autopsy results — or further elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting and whether it could even have been friendly fire — saying the investigation is ongoing, and referring to Snelling's comments from last night. It was not clear on Friday afternoon whether the suspects fired a weapon. This is what Snelling did relay about the shooting, though, in a press conference that took place hours after the event. The officers first tried to stop someone thought to be armed when the individual ran into an apartment, and the officers followed, he said. There, Snelling said, the team encountered a second person armed with a rifle. One of the officers fired a gun 'at some point' during the confrontation, he said, and another officer was shot, later succumbing to her injuries at University of Chicago Medical Center. 'When the officers followed into that location they were then confronted by a second person who was in that apartment who was armed with a rifle pointed at the officers,' snelling said. 'At some point the officer discharged the weapon. Our officer was struck. She was then transported by assisting units to the hospital here where she later succumbed to her wounds.' The two people in the apartment ran away and were arrested shortly afterward, Snelling said, though he said officials had 'several' people in custody in connection with the shooting. The department did not specify exactly how many people were in custody as of Friday afternoon. A third officer hurt his wrist and was listed in fair condition, according to a CPD statement. Investigators recovered three weapons at the scene and were still reviewing body-worn camera footage, Snelling said, and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating the shooting. After the shooting, police officers took their wounded colleague to the hospital in a squad car, which crashed and caught fire on the way there because of what Snelling described as a malfunction with the vehicle. Another squad car finished the trip, he said, and the officers in the first car were 'doing fine.' 'The way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job,' Snelling said. 'She wanted to make Chicago a better place.' Rivera's mother, reached for comment by phone, declined to comment. In a statement posted to social media, Mayor Brandon Johnson asked Chicagoans to keep Rivera's family in their prayers, especially her young daughter who will 'who will miss her mom for the rest of her life.' Rivera had an 'unmatched work ethic,' Johnson said. 'Officer Rivera was a hero who served on the force for four years. She had a long career in front of her. A bright future was stolen from her family and from her loved ones,' he said in the statement. The last Chicago officer to suffer fatal injuries on the job was Enrique Martinez, 26. Martinez, who was also assigned to the same Gresham District as Rivera, was fatally shot in November in the 8200 block of South Ingleside — just one street east of where Rivera was killed Thursday. Outside the hospital early Friday morning, squad cars lined Cottage Grove Avenue for blocks in every direction. A peer support officer walked people, some of them in tears, in and out of the ambulance bay as others in uniform exchanged hugs in the street. In Chatham, the crime scene spanned multiple blocks as law enforcement agencies fanned out in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Cook County sheriff's deputies walked up and down Maryland Avenue near East 83rd Street with rifles and canine units while tactical teams searched nearby alleys with flashlights. As squad cars lined the streets for several blocks in every direction, a police helicopter circled the area, beaming a searchlight. Residents walked their dogs and filmed the scene on their phones, protesting when officers asked them to back up to Cottage Grove so they could expand the crime scene. Officers appeared to zero in on an alley on the west side of South Ingleside Avenue. A resident leaned out the window of a courtyard building across the street and asked if they needed to get in. Detectives begin combing the front yard with flashlights. Just before noon Friday, a two-man crew arrived at CPD's Gresham District station to affix purple and black bunting on the building's facade, in keeping with CPD tradition after an officer is killed on the job. This is a developing story.

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

Chicago Tribune

Chicago police officer fatally shot in Chatham neighborhood was struck in back: autopsy

Earlier in what would be her final shift, Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera took two guns off the street, authorities said, only to come face-to-face with a rifle later that night. Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran with a young daughter who lived in the Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, was killed after the Gresham (6th) District tactical team she was part of tried to conduct an investigatory stop on a person believed to have a weapon about 9:50 p.m. on Thursday in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue. The first Chicago police officer to be killed in the line of duty this year, Rivera was mourned by city officials and her fellow officers, who praised her work ethic and asked Chicagoans to keep her family in their prayers. 'Our officer was young, vibrant and a hard worker,' police Superintendent Larry Snelling said, speaking from the University of Chicago Medical Center early Friday morning. 'She was a working police officer trying to keep the streets safe.' Flanked by department brass, Mayor Brandon Johnson and other city and state officials, Snelling gave some details about the shooting, but did not offer a full picture of exactly how the shooting unfolded. In response to a reporter's question about the gunfire, Snelling said investigators were waiting on a warrant to search the apartment where the shooting happened. 'Here's the deal: We won't know that until the search warrant is served and we are able to go through that apartment and collect more evidence. The evidence that we collect usually … gives a story of what occurred in there,' Snelling said. 'So until we have all of that information we can't rely on just one source at this time.' An autopsy found that Rivera was shot in the back. A CPD spokesperson declined to comment on the autopsy results — or further elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting and whether it could even have been friendly fire — saying the investigation is ongoing, and referring to Snelling's comments from last night. It was not clear on Friday afternoon whether the suspects fired a weapon. This is what Snelling did relay about the shooting, though, in a press conference that took place hours after the event. The officers first tried to stop someone thought to be armed when the individual ran into an apartment, and the officers followed, he said. There, Snelling said, the team encountered a second person armed with a rifle. One of the officers fired a gun 'at some point' during the confrontation, he said, and another officer was shot, later succumbing to her injuries at University of Chicago Medical Center. 'When the officers followed into that location they were then confronted by a second person who was in that apartment who was armed with a rifle pointed at the officers,' snelling said. 'At some point the officer discharged the weapon. Our officer was struck. She was then transported by assisting units to the hospital here where she later succumbed to her wounds.' The two people in the apartment ran away and were arrested shortly afterward, Snelling said, though he said officials had 'several' people in custody in connection with the shooting. The department did not specify exactly how many people were in custody as of Friday afternoon. A third officer hurt his wrist and was listed in fair condition, according to a CPD statement. Investigators recovered three weapons at the scene and were still reviewing body-worn camera footage, Snelling said, and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating the shooting. After the shooting, police officers took their wounded colleague to the hospital in a squad car, which crashed and caught fire on the way there because of what Snelling described as a malfunction with the vehicle. Another squad car finished the trip, he said, and the officers in the first car were 'doing fine.' 'The way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job,' Snelling said. 'She wanted to make Chicago a better place.' Rivera's mother, reached for comment by phone, declined to comment. In a statement posted to social media, Mayor Brandon Johnson asked Chicagoans to keep Rivera's family in their prayers, especially her young daughter who will 'who will miss her mom for the rest of her life.' Rivera had an 'unmatched work ethic,' Johnson said. 'Officer Rivera was a hero who served on the force for four years. She had a long career in front of her. A bright future was stolen from her family and from her loved ones,' he said in the statement. The last Chicago officer to suffer fatal injuries on the job was Enrique Martinez, 26. Martinez, who was also assigned to the same Gresham District as Rivera, was fatally shot in November in the 8200 block of South Ingleside — just one street east of where Rivera was killed Thursday. Outside the hospital early Friday morning, squad cars lined Cottage Grove Avenue for blocks in every direction. A peer support officer walked people, some of them in tears, in and out of the ambulance bay as others in uniform exchanged hugs in the street. In Chatham, the crime scene spanned multiple blocks as law enforcement agencies fanned out in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Cook County sheriff's deputies walked up and down Maryland Avenue near East 83rd Street with rifles and canine units while tactical teams searched nearby alleys with flashlights. As squad cars lined the streets for several blocks in every direction, a police helicopter circled the area, beaming a searchlight. Residents walked their dogs and filmed the scene on their phones, protesting when officers asked them to back up to Cottage Grove so they could expand the crime scene. Officers appeared to zero in on an alley on the west side of South Ingleside Avenue. A resident leaned out the window of a courtyard building across the street and asked if they needed to get in. Detectives begin combing the front yard with flashlights. Just before noon Friday, a two-man crew arrived at CPD's Gresham District station to affix purple and black bunting on the building's facade, in keeping with CPD tradition after an officer is killed on the job.

High school booster club says former treasurer embezzled about $200K

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Mass. man who supplied gang with ‘particularly dangerous' drugs began drinking, smoking at 13

Chicago police officer fatally shot in Chatham neighborhood was struck in back: autopsy

Chicago police officer fatally shot in Chatham neighborhood was struck in back: autopsy

High school booster club says former treasurer embezzled about $200K

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Mass. man who supplied gang with ‘particularly dangerous' drugs began drinking, smoking at 13

Chicago police officer fatally shot in Chatham neighborhood was struck in back: autopsy

Chicago police officer fatally shot in Chatham neighborhood was struck in back: autopsy

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