“Operation River Fork” defendant sentenced to prison for drug trafficking

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Woonsocket man was sentenced today to two years in federal prison for participating in the distribution of crack cocaine, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha. Bradley Dewalt, 30, was one of eighteen “Operation River Fork” defendants arrested during an FBI Project Safe Neighborhoods investigation in 2020, in Woonsocket, Providence, and Cranston. The arrests resulted in the recovery of six loaded firearms and more than a kilo of crack cocaine.

On June 2, 2021, Dewalt pled guilty to distribution of crack cocaine. At the time of his guilty plea, Dewalt admitted to the court that, at the direction of another person, he contacted an individual seeking to arrange for the purchase of crack cocaine and sold him 24.64 grams of crack cocaine for $1,150.

Today, U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy sentenced Dewalt to 24 months of incarceration to be followed by two years of federal supervised release. Prior to his arrest in this matter, Dewalt was previously convicted and sentenced on assault, drug trafficking, and firearm charges.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey P. Veroni, was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The FBI Safe Streets Task Force consists of agents and law enforcement officers from the FBI; Rhode Island State Police; the Providence, Cranston, Woonsocket, Pawtucket, West Warwick, and Central Falls Police Departments; and the U.S. Marshals Service.