Repeat offender arrested in Fall River with loaded stolen gun and opioids sentenced to prison

A 23-year-old Brockton man arrested in Fall River while carrying a loaded stolen firearm and 40 suboxone strips was sentenced to state prison recently, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Melvin Arias-Brown pled guilty in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging him with Carrying a Loaded Illegal Firearm, Carrying an Illegal Firearm, Receiving Stolen Property and Possession of a Class B Drug. He was sentenced to serve three to five years.

At the time of his arrest on April 20, 2022, Arias-Brown had three separate arrest warrants out of the Brockton District Court and was believed to be in possession of a firearm. Massachusetts State Police investigators were actively conducting surveillance to find him. The investigators saw Arias-Brown and a female leaving a residence on Snell Street in Fall River and followed them in the vehicle they got into. When the vehicle stopped and the female exited, police quickly approached. Arias-Brown tried to escape but was apprehended and found with a loaded firearm in his waist band along with 40 suboxone strips. The firearm had been reported stolen to Avon Police on April 7, 2022.

At the time of his arrest, Arias-Brown was also on probation out of Plymouth County Superior Court for a case involving a breaking and entering and larceny for which he did jail time. The active warrants that were lodged against him around the time of his arrest in Fall River were all for firearm and armed robbery offenses. He has since been indicted in Plymouth County in connection to these cases.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kaitlyn O’Leary and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Sharon Donatelle.

“The facts and circumstances of this case are particularly disturbing. The defendant was on probation at the time of this offense and had multiple warrants out for him on similar serious felonies. Despite all that, he was still in possession of a loaded illegal firearm on his waistband and presented a significant danger to the community and law enforcement. He clearly needs to be kept off the street to protect the public,” District Attorney Quinn said.