A 36-year-old man identified as a member of the notorious Heath Street Gang, was sentenced on Monday to 54 months in prison, after pleading guilty in May 2020 to distributing crack cocaine in a public housing development.
Michael Pridgen, was handed the sentence by the US District Court Judge Richard G. The sentence also carries with it six years of supervised release, which prohibits the gang member from the geographic region of Boston, where he was conceited for selling narcotics.
Selling Crack Cocaine at Public Housing Project
Pridgen distributed the narcotic substance in Mildred C. Hailey Apartments in Boston and its surrounding areas. He is said to have dealt in crack cocaine at the complex, which was known as the Bromley Heath Housing Development, on numerous occasions during the spring and summer of 2019. In an incident that occurred on 5 June 2019, Pridgen stored crack cocaine, and a digital scale to weigh the substance, in an electrical box attached to the wall in the stairwell of the complex.
When he was arrested on 10 September 2019, Pidegen was found on a bench within a courtyard at the public housing complex. He was found in possession of the distribution-quantity of fentanyl and crack cocaine. Though he was identified as a member of the Heath Street Gang by the law enforcement officials, he was residing at Westborough at the time of the incidents at the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments.
Pleading Guilty
Pridgen pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution and possession with the intention to distribute crack cocaine, in May 2020. He also pleaded to one count of possession with the intention to distribute crack cocaine.
Additionally, Pridgen admitted to one count of distribution and possession with the intention of distributing fentanyl and crack cocaine. He also pleaded guilty to one count distribution and possession with intention of distributing crack cocaine in a public housing development.
