Convicted Felon Charged with Firearms and Drug Offenses
Defendant allegedly possessed loaded firearm and over 300 grams of cocaine while driving impaired
BOSTON – A Haverhill man with multiple prior felony convictions was charged yesterday for possessing a loaded firearm and drugs intended for distribution.
Ramon Silvelo-Miles, 32, was charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. Following an initial appearance yesterday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy, Silvelo-Miles was detained pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for Jan. 25, 2022.
According to the charging documents, in the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2021, Silvelo-Miles was stopped by law enforcement for driving erratically on Route 24 in West Bridgewater. Field sobriety tests administered on-site indicated that Silvelo-Miles was too impaired to drive. It is alleged that a subsequent search of the defendant’s car uncovered over 300 grams of cocaine packaged in small, clear plastic bags, as well as a small backpack inside the glove compartment that contained a clear plastic bag of fentanyl. A Raven Arms MP-25 .25 caliber pistol hidden within a black sock is also alleged to have been found in the glove compartment. The gun was loaded with one bullet in the chamber and five bullets in the magazine. Silvelo-Miles is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to multiple prior felony convictions including a 2014 conviction for manslaughter.
The charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak, III of Rollins’ Organized Crime and Gangs Unit is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
