Previously Convicted Felon Caught on Snapchat Pleads Guilty to Firearm And Drug Offenses
Defendant was on supervised release from prior federal firearm charge
BOSTON – A Boston-area man pleaded guilty yesterday to illegally possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number while on supervised release from an earlier federal firearm charge.
Dane Mitchell, 32, of Boston and Revere, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Jan. 9, 2024.
In 2021, an investigation into a violent Boston gang identified Mitchell as the owner of a Snapchat account that posted images of himself with firearms. Specifically, the images showed Mitchell’s face with firearms and showing bullet holes in his vehicle after he had been shot at. Mitchell is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to a 2018 federal conviction in Maine of unlawful transportation of firearms, for which he was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
During a search of Mitchell’s Revere residence in December 2021, a Taurus TCP Model 738 PT .380 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number, loaded with four rounds of .380 caliber ammunition in the clip and one round in the chamber, five additional rounds of the same type of .380 caliber ammunition, one round of 5.7 millimeter ammunition, bags of cocaine, cocaine base, and fentanyl, cutting agents, a digital scale, blender and a press for packaging narcotics were seized.
The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The operation was conducted is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. More information on the OCDETF program is available here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Division; and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division made the announcement. Special assistance in the investigation was provided by the Boston, Quincy and Lynn Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Pohl of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.
