Fall River drug trafficker sentenced to state prison

A 29-year-old Fall River cocaine trafficker arrested last year with more than 150 grams of cocaine was sentenced in Fall River Superior Court last week to serve up to five-and-a-half years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

According to Gregg Miliote of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Emmanuel Berrios pleaded guilty to a single-count indictment charging with Trafficking Cocaine.

On June 8, 2018, Massachusetts State Troopers of the Southeastern Massachusetts Gang Task Force, were patrolling the area of Whipple and Osborn Streets in Fall River. This is an area known for high crime and gang activity. At approximately 12:40 p.m., a grey Nissan sedan was spotted driving in excess of the 30 mph speed limit. The Nissan also had a cracked windshield. The Nissan was on Osborn Street, driving toward Second Street. The Nissan drove on the wrong side of the road when turning on to Second Street. When the troopers turned on the blue lights to their cruiser to pull the Nissan over, they observed the operator and the passengers turn around and look at them. The troopers observed three people in the Nissan. The front seat passenger was moving around. The front seat passenger’s head moved forward and the troopers lost sight of his head and shoulders. The movement was consistent with hiding an object under the seat. The troopers continued to have their blue lights and siren on. The Nissan did not pull over until it reached a parking lot at the corner of Second and Manton Streets.

Once the Nissan stopped, the troopers got out of their vehicle and approached. One trooper approached the driver’s side while two others approached the passenger’s side and ordered the passenger (the defendant) out of the vehicle. One of the troopers frisked the defendant and located two large bags of cocaine in his pants. One of the bags contained many smaller bags of cocaine.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Walsh and the four to five-and-a-half year state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Karen Green.

“Alert police work led to the seizure of a large amount of cocaine and getting a drug dealer off of the street for up to five and a half years” District Attorney Quinn said.