A Randolph man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for sex trafficking a 15-year-old minor.

Admilson Gomes Pires, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 11 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Pires was also ordered to pay $5,500 in restitution to the victim. In September 2023, Pires was convicted by a federal jury of one count of sex trafficking of a child and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a child.

“Mr. Pires not only preyed upon a minor runaway, but he cruelly subjected her to sexual abuse and trafficking. His calculated manipulation, from grooming this vulnerable young girl to orchestrating commercial sex transactions, demonstrate a reprehensible lack of humanity,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “This case underscores why combatting human trafficking, which often hides in plain sight, is such a high priority for this office. January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and our office remains steadfast in our commitment to combatting this heinous conduct, seeking justice for survivors and holding perpetrators accountable. The exploitation of vulnerable individuals, especially minors, will never be tolerated.”

“Admilson Pires is a predator who groomed a 15-year-old child who ran away from home for his own gratification and profit, and today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of his crimes,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “Sex trafficking is among the most depraved crimes on the books, and using a victim-centered approach, FBI Boston’s Child Exploitation – Human Trafficking Task Force will continue to do everything it can to protect our most vulnerable from those who seek to manipulate and harm them.”

In February 2019, Pires met the minor victim who had run from her home in Western Massachusetts and began a sexual relationship with her. Pires groomed the minor victim and, in July 2019, began trafficking her in Boston and Norwood. He first sold the minor victim for sex to his adult uncle in Dorchester and then created and posted a commercial sex advertisement online that contained explicit photographs and a video of the minor victim. Pires told the minor victim that she would have to engage in prostitution with strangers if she wanted to stay in a relationship with him.

Pires used drugs to manipulate an adult female into agreeing to harbor the minor victim at her apartment in Norwood for sex trafficking. Over the course of 11 days, Pires had the minor victim engage in commercial sex for him out of the Norwood apartment – arranging four to five “dates” per day in exchange for money he kept himself. On at least one occasion, a sex buyer that Pires had arranged for the minor victim to have sex with was extremely violent toward her.

On Aug. 1, 2019, local law enforcement located the minor victim in Norwood and returned her home.

If you or someone you know may be impacted or experiencing commercial sex trafficking, please contact USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov.

Acting U.S. Attorney Levy and FBI SAC Cohen made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Suffolk and Norfolk County District Attorney’s Offices; the Massachusetts State Police; and the Arlington, Boston, Fall River, Norwood, Randolph and Springfield Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Moran, Chief of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Riley, Chief of the Civil Rights & Human Trafficking Unit prosecuted the case.

“BOSTON – A Chicago-area rap artist was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield, Mass. for participating in a nationwide wire fraud conspiracy that victimized businesses across the United States and for making a false statement to a federal agent to conceal his involvement.

Herbert Wright, 25, a/k/a “G Herbo,” was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to three years’ probation. Wright was also ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $139,968 each, as well as a $5,500 fine.

In July 2023, Wright pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a federal official.

Wright was initially indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2020 along with five co-defendants, including rap promoter Antonio Strong, in connection with the alleged fraud conspiracy. Wright was subsequently charged with making false statements in May 2021.

“On social media, Mr. Wright boasted an extravagant lifestyle. He gave the impression that his use of private jets, luxury cars and tropical villas were the legitimate fruits of his booming rap career as “G Herbo.” However, his lavish lifestyle was shamelessly built on deceit and fraud using stolen account information that inflicted substantial harm on numerous businesses, leaving a wake of victims burdened with financial losses.” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy.

“This case should serve as a stark reminder that breaking the law leads to prosecution and accountability, regardless of who you are, how many likes you rack up or how many followers you have.”

Beginning in at least March 2017 through November 2018, Wright and, allegedly, his co-defendants, conspired to defraud numerous businesses and individuals throughout the United States by using unauthorized and stolen payment card account information of real individuals – including the actual cardholders’ names, addresses, security codes and account expiration dates. Generally, because the payment card information was authentic, the defrauded businesses and individuals successfully processed the fraudulent transactions and provided the goods and services to Wright and his alleged co-conspirators. The actual cardholders discovered these transactions on their accounts and disputed the charges with their card companies, who then charged back the transactions to the businesses and individuals, which consequently suffered losses in the amounts of the unauthorized transactions.

According to court documents, Wright frequently asked Strong for a number of luxury goods or services, such as flights, vehicles (“whips”), or accommodation (“cribs”), which Strong allegedly often procured by fraud using the stolen payment card account information. This included: four private jet charters for a total cost of over $80,000; over $34,000 in exotic car rentals including a Mercedes Benz 5560 and a Cadillac Escalade; and over $14,500 for a villa rental in Jamaica for which Wright also requested that Strong provide vehicles and an additional credit card account for his incidentals.

Wright also used fraud proceeds to travel to various concert venues and to advance his career by posting photographs and/or videos of himself on the private jets, in exotic cars and at the Jamaican villa on social media and in music videos.

Additionally, according to court documents in November 2018, Wright falsely told a federal agent that he never worked with or was assisted by Strong; he never provided Strong any money; he never received anything of value from Strong; and he had no direct relationship with Strong. In fact, since at least 2016 it is alleged that Strong worked with and assisted Wright; Wright allegedly provided Strong money; Wright allegedly received valuable goods from Strong, including private jet charters, luxury accommodations and exotic car rentals; and Wright allegedly had frequent direct contact with Strong, including phone conversations, text messages and Instagram messages.

Wright admitted, as part his guilty plea, that he was responsible for $139,878 in victim losses. Strong has pleaded not guilty.

Acting U.S. Attorney Levy and Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of the Springfield Branch Office and Trial Attorneys Andrew Tyler and Kyle Crawford of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”-Massachusetts Department of Justice.

An anonymous source recently sent us a video capturing a man punching and knocking out another man in the parking lot of “The Last Round” in New Bedford. This individual told us, “I want to be anonymous but this is Servulo Pires, assaulting a man who he didn’t know in the parking lot of Last Round. He hit him without expecting it breaking multiple teeth and breaking his eye socket.”

The New Bedford Police Department was notified and released this statement regarding the video: “We have determined that this video captures an incident that took place on September 3rd of last year. Mr. SERVULO PIRES, 30, of New Bedford has been charged with Assault and Battery causing serious injury. The case remains open in New Bedford district court.”

The video of the incident is captured below:

“Threats caused evacuation at Harvard and the controlled detonation of a hoax device.

BOSTON – A Manchester, N.H., man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston for a series of extortionate bomb threats against Harvard University. The extortionate threats caused the evacuation of Harvard’s Science Center Plaza and surrounding academic buildings, and the controlled detonation of what was later determined to be a hoax device on April 13, 2023.

William A. Giordani, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of concealing a federal felony. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for April 25, 2024. Giordani was initially arrested and charged by criminal complaint in May 2023 and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2023.

F.B.I. photo.

In the early afternoon of April 13, 2023, Giordani placed a large tool bag, which concealed a locked safe containing fireworks and electrical wires, in the center of Harvard’s Science Center Plaza, where students and others had gathered. Shortly thereafter, a caller, using a voice changing app to conceal his identity, called the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and said that he had placed three bombs on the Harvard campus. The caller demanded an unspecified amount in Bitcoin to prevent the remote detonation of the bombs. In several ensuing calls, the caller told HUPD that he was serious about his demands and that they could find the first bomb in the Science Center Plaza.

HUPD discovered the device planted by Giordani, next to a bench in the center of Science Center Plaza and issued an emergency evacuation order of the area and nearby buildings. A responding bomb squad from the Cambridge Police Department assessed and disabled the device. No additional devices were found on campus that day.

F.B.I. photo.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Giordani had been recruited to join the extortion scheme via a craigslist.org advertisement. Once Giordani knew he had been recruited to assist in an extortionate bomb scheme, he had an obligation under federal law to report that scheme to law enforcement authorities. Instead, he deleted incriminating text messages, told his girlfriend not to speak to anyone about it and went on the run from police.

The charge of concealing a felony provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison and one year of supervised release. 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.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division; Harvard University Police Chief Victor Clay; and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow made the announcement. Assistance was provided by the Nashua (N.H.) Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. McNeil of the National Security Unit is prosecuting the case.”-Massachusetts Department of Justice.

F.B.I. photo.

“Last Friday, one of our members, assigned to SP South Boston, observed a disabled motor vehicle on the Tobin bridge heading into Chelsea.

When our Trooper approached the vehicle, the operator exited the running vehicle from the driver seat and stated that he was not the operator of the vehicle and that he did not have a license or ID on him. It was later found, that his license was suspended. During our member’s investigation, a box full of THC products and psilocybin products was recovered as well as a box full of unregulated flavored nicotine products, and a black cross-body bag with an illegal semi-automatic handgun, cocaine, heroin, Adderall, OxyContin, Xanax, psilocybin mushrooms, and a digital scale.

The suspect was taken into custody without incident and held on $50,000 bail. He now faces the following charges:

• POSSESSION OF FIREARM WITHOUT FID CARD/ 269-10-H
• POSSESSION OF AMMO WITHOUT FID CARD/ 269-10-H-1
• FIREARM IN FELONY, POSSESS/ 265-18B-A
• POSSESSION / CARRYING A FIREARM/ 269-10-A
• DRUG, POSSESS TO DISTRIB CLASS A, SUBSQ. / 94C-32-D
• DRUG, POSSESS TO DISTRIB CLASS C, SUBSQ. / 94C-32B-D
• DRUG, POSSESS OT DISTRIB CLASS B, SUBSQ. /94C-32A-H
• DRUG, POSSESS TO DISTRIB CLASS D/ 94C-32-C
• ESTATE TAX, EVADE-65C-26.”-State Police Association of Massachusetts.

State Police Association of Massachusetts photo.

The Acushnet Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating the vehicle depicted.

On Sunday evening at approximately 8:17PM, the vehicle failed to stop at the S. Main/Main Street stop sign. The vehicle then struck and destroyed the St. Francis Xavier Church’s fence and sign.

The vehicle then backed out and left the scene only to pass by a short time later while an officer was taking the police report. The operator once again failed to stop and identify themselves. If you are the responsible party or if anyone recognizes this vehicle, please contact the APD (508) 998-0240.

Acushnet Police Department photo.

“NEW BEDFORD – Narcotics detectives have arrested a local man for trafficking in Fentanyl.

On January 5th, Det. Matthew Sylvia of the department’s Organized Crime Intelligence Bureau concluded an investigation into a fentanyl distribution operation being conducted out of 255 N. Front St. The target of the investigation was the first-floor tenant, Mr. RICARDO CRUZ DE LOS SANTOS, 41.

A search warrant was executed at this address in the early afternoon hours. As a result of the search that followed, approximately 428 grams of fentanyl was discovered along with digital scales and packaging materials used in the distribution of illicit narcotics. In addition, $1,377 in cash was located and seized as a result of the nature of the charges.

CRUZ DE LOS SANTOS was taken into custody and charged with trafficking more than 200 grams of Fentanyl.

If you have any information you would like to share with the police, you can do so anonymously by visiting our website, newbedfordpd.com, or by calling 508-99-CRIME.”-City of New Bedford Police Department.

City of New Bedford Police Department photo.

“Adam Gauthier, the 41-year-old New York City resident arrested on charges related to a late Christmas night motor vehicle triple-fatality on the Somerset side of the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Fall River District Court on the two newest charges filed in connection to the December 29th death of Donna Arruda.

After Mrs. Arruda’s death, new charges of Manslaughter while Operating Under the Influence and Motor Vehicle Homicide-OUI Liquor were filed.

The defendant is already being held on $100,000 cash bail after being arraigned from his hospital bed on December 26 on charges of two counts of Manslaughter while Operating Under the Influence, two counts of Motor Vehicle Homicide-OUI Liquor, and one count each of OUI-Liquor with Serious Bodily Injury, Reckless Operation of a Motor Vehicle and Driving the Wrong Way on a State Highway.

The defendant, formerly of Somerset, was arrested shortly after the 11 pm Christmas night crash.

After being arrested, he was transported to Saint Luke’s Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. He has since been discharged and is currently being held at the Dartmouth House of Corrections. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Catherine Sauter.

Massachusetts State Police of the Dartmouth Barracks received an emergency call at 11 pm Christmas night regarding a collision on the bridge involving a wrong way operator.

The preliminary investigation has revealed that the defendant was driving a Range Rover eastbound in the westbound lane on Route 6 while crossing the bridge. While on the bridge, the defendant’s vehicle struck an Infiniti SUV head on.

The Infiniti was being operated by Floriano Arruda, 73, of Seekonk. Mr. Arruda’s wife, Donna Arruda, 68, also of Seekonk was in the front passenger seat and his 15-year-old grandson, Jacoby Arruda, also of Seekonk, was in the rear of the vehicle.

All three of the Arrudas were rushed to area hospitals. Jacoby Arruda was pronounced deceased On Christmas night at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, Floriano Arruda was pronounced deceased on the morning of December 26th at Rhode Island Hospital and Donna Arruda died at Rhode Island Hospital on December 29th.

Beyond the two initial vehicles involved in the crash was a third vehicle that also sustained front end damage during the incident. The driver and front seat passenger of the third vehicle sustained minor injuries and were treated at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River.

The investigation into the crash remains ongoing at this time and is now the subject of a criminal prosecution. No further information can be disseminated. The probe will be conducted by Homicide Unit prosecutors, the State Police Detective Unit assigned to DA Quinn’s office, State Police-Dartmouth Barracks and State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section.”

“Around 1:50 a.m. ?? on Friday, my van was stolen in carjacking. Some guy in a hoodie ran up to my car moments after I pulled into the parking lot next to Taco Bell Coggeshall St., in front of Snipes building technically.

I snapped this photo, looked up and noticed the guy who then swung open my door, tried pulling me out screaming that he had a gun. He was a white male, not tall probably 5’5-5’8 little stout, probably in 40s. He was clean shaven, rounder not skinny. He definitely seemed like he was out of it and panicky.

I’m fine. I just asked him to let me unbuckle since he was trying to pull me out like I was going anywhere and managed to keep my purse in the process. That’s just my luck having late night cravings. Lesson learned.

I’m posting only in hopes of getting it back somehow, someway by a miracle and to warn everybody to stay safe.

This car has been my saving grace with 3 young kids. If you happen to see it please ? call the NBPD at (508) 991-6300 and report it. If anyone notices a navy blue TOWN & COUNTRY mini-van in the area with 2VRC24 license plate, it’s mine❗”

“A 37-year-old man, who assaulted three different correctional officers on three separate occasions, was sentenced today in Fall River Superior Court to serve 18 to 36 months in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Kevin Branco, who has no known address, pleaded guilty today to indictments charging him with two count of Assault and Battery on a Correctional Officer, two counts of Assault and Battery on a Correctional Officer with Bodily Substance and one count of Civil Rights Violation.

On March 12, 2018, the defendant, who was an inmate at the Dartmouth House of Corrections, told a correctional office, “you’re going to die in this jail, n****.” The defendant proceeded to spit in the officer’s face before violently attacking him. During the altercation, the officer suffered a serious injury to his shoulder which led to him leaving law enforcement altogether.

On December 24, 2018, the defendant was still at the Dartmouth House of Corrections when he spat in the face of another correctional officer, who was moving the defendant from one cell to another because the defendant defecated on the floor of his own cell.

Then, on March 11, 2019, the defendant was an inmate at the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford. On that night, he charged at the officer, grabbing him by the neck and shoulders.

The incidents were all captured on video surveillance.

The defendant has already served committed time for arson, assault and battery on a correctional office, and assault and battery on a child.

During his plea hearing today, Assistant District Attorneys Gillian Kirsch and Patrick Driscoll argued for a four to five year state prison sentence while the defendant requested that he be placed on probation. Judge Raffi Yessayan sentenced him to serve 18 to 26 months in state prison.

“This defendant engaged in outrageous behavior while being held in custody awaiting trial. He injured one officer who had to then leave law enforcement. This behavior is uncivilized conduct. He can’t even control himself while in jail and is a clear danger to the community,” District Attorney Quinn said.”-Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III Office.