Man held without bail on list of drug and firearm charges in Fall River Superior Court after arrest by Massachusetts State Police, local officers

A New Bedford man faced a judge Friday following a joint investigation with Massachusetts State Police and the New Bedford Police Department that led to the seizure of drugs, firearms, and ammunition.

According to Massachusetts State Police, on April 2nd, detectives with the NBPD’s Violent Crime Intelligence Unit, working alongside the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit, executed search warrants in New Bedford at the residence of 36-year-old Steven Ellis and a garage associated with Ellis as part of an investigation into the illegal possession and distribution of narcotics.

During a search of Ellis’s residence, detectives located 96 Suboxone film strips, three firearms registered to his girlfriend, and packaging materials consistent with narcotics distribution. Ellis does not possess a License to Carry or Firearm Identification Card in Massachusetts. The firearms were seized, and the owner’s license to carry was suspended by the issuing authority, the Fairhaven Police Department.

During a search of the garage, detectives seized a Marlin .22 caliber rifle, a Springfield shotgun, a Remington shotgun, a Polymer80 ghost gun, a .22 caliber pistol with a defaced serial number, a taser, 16.9 grams of cocaine, 55 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, ammunition, and two large-capacity magazines.

Ellis was arrested and charged with two counts of possession with intent to distribute a Class B drug, possession of a Class C drug, six counts of carrying a firearm without a license, defacing a serial number on a firearm, possession of an untraceable firearm, five counts of possession of ammunition without an FID card, and two counts of possession of a large capacity feeding device.

According to court records, Ellis previously pled not guilty in District Court and was held without bail on dangerousness.

On Friday, in Fall River Superior Court, Ellis pled not guilty and is being held without bail pending a July 2nd dangerousness hearing.