New Bedford Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to Prison
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
October 13, 2022
A 42-year-old New Bedford Fentanyl trafficker was sentenced last week in Fall River Superior Court to serve four years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Brian Still pleaded guilty on October 7 to an indictment charging him with trafficking in excess of 18 grams of Fentanyl.
On May 13, 2020, New Bedford Police Detective Nathan Pimental set up surveillance at 314 Coffin Avenue in New Bedford. At the time he was in possession of a search warrant for Apartment #5 at that address, which belonged to the target/defendant, Brian Still. At approximately 1:30PM he observed the target of the warrant exit the residence with his girlfriend. As the defendant drove his red Chevy Tahoe from the area, Detective Pimental gave the order to stop it. Officers stopped the vehicle at the intersection of Quansett Street and Dean Street. The defendant and his girlfriend were removed from the vehicle and advised of their Miranda Warnings via a printed card which they acknowledged they understood.
Police returned to the target location and entered using the keys that had been seized from the defendant. Upon entering, police went to the defendant’s bedroom and located a scale and a bag of Fentanyl, weighing around 25 grams. A further search of the apartment revealed a second bag of Fentanyl, weighing around five grams & approximately two-tenths of a gram of loose Fentanyl. Police also seized cut comer baggies, digital scales and $1,351 in cash which was believed to be the proceeds from illegal drug sales. The suspected Fentanyl was sent to the State Lab for analysis which confirmed the substance was, in fact, Fentanyl.
The defendant has a long criminal history dating back some 28 years, to 1994. He has been convicted of prior drug distribution offenses and has received various jail commitments. In 2007 he was convicted of Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and sentenced to State Prison for 2-3 years.
“This defendant has a history of convictions that include selling drugs and assaults,” District Attorney Quinn said “He clearly is a danger to the community and needs to be kept off the street to protect public.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Steve Butts, who heads up DA Quinn’s Drug Unit, and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Raffi Yessayan.
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Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
774-292-9576