News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2005

FALL RIVER MAN SENTENCED TO
36 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR DEALING CRACK COCAINE

Boston, MA... A Fall River man was sentenced today in federal court for conspiring to distribute, and distributing, crack cocaine in Fall River from 1998 to 2001.

June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England and United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, announced that EDDIE PIERRE, age 40, formerly of Fall River and New Bedford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reginald C. Lindsay to 36 years’ imprisonment. PIERRE, a Haitian national, is subject to deportation upon his release from prison. In addition, the Court ordered that PIERRE forfeit assorted jewelry valued at approximately $60,000 in satisfaction of a jury forfeiture verdict of $500,000.

PIERRE was convicted by a trial jury on May 6, 2004 of conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and more than 50 grams of crack cocaine. In a earlier trial in December of 2003, a jury found PIERRE guilty of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute.

At trial, the government presented evidence that PIERRE ran an extensive drug business in Fall River, New Bedford, and Brockton from at least April of 1998 until September of 2001, selling crack and powder cocaine. In particular, PIERRE supplied crack to members of the 504 BOYZ, a gang that operated in the Corkey Row area of Fall River from 1999 to 2001. The members of that gang, led by Nathaniel Fernandez, were dismantled as a result of a previous investigation and federal prosecution and are currently serving lengthy prison sentences. At today’s sentencing, the prosecutor noted that PIERRE also used firearms, violence, and threats of violence in connection with his drug trafficking activity.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Fall River Police Department.