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A 43-year-old former Department of Corrections correctional officer who was caught dealing heroin in his hometown of Swansea was sentenced last week to serve three-and-a-half years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Stephen Lebreux pleaded guilty last week in Fall River Superior Court to a multi-count indictment charging him with two counts of trafficking heroin and three counts of distribution of heroin.
In January of 2016, Fall River Police Detective John Lapointe received information from confidential informants about a Department of Corrections officer who was selling heroin in and around Fall River. After some investigation, investigators identified the dealer as Mr. Lebreux.
An undercover Massachusetts State Police Sergeant texted the defendant, who agreed to meet up with him and sell him heroin. The defendant sold heroin to the sergeant in the parking lot of the McDonald’s in Swansea on January 27th (two bundles of Heroin for $120.00), February 2nd (four bundles for $240.00), February 10th (10 grams of heroin for $800.00), and February 12th (20 grams for $1600). The defendant was eventually arrested on February 16th while on his way to sell heroin to the sergeant. He was arrested with 19.46 grams of heroin to sell, and approximately six grams of heroin in his pocket and the console of his vehicle.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Cahillane, and the sentence was handed down by Judge Renee Dupuis. In addition to the state prison term, Judge Dupuis also sentenced the defendant to an additional year of supervised probation to commence upon his release from prison.
“This defendant sold heroin while employed as a correctional officer. His drug dealing contributed to the serious opioid problem, and was a breach of the public’s trust because of his position,” District Attorney Quinn said. “I want to thank the various agencies involved in this investigation for working together to bring this case to a successful conclusion.”
