Boston Gang Associate Sentenced for Cocaine Trafficking

BOSTON – A Boston gang associate was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for cocaine trafficking offenses.

Kareem Chaplin, 47, of Canton, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to three years and one month in prison and three years of supervised release. On April 28, 2021, Chaplin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base.

In June 2020, Chaplin was charged along with 23 others as part of Operation Snowfall.  According to the charging documents, beginning in November 2018, law enforcement conducted an investigation into drug trafficking activities by Boston-based street gang members and associates in the Commonwealth Development in Brighton, Mass., formerly known as Fidelis Way, a multi-apartment public housing development. It is alleged that the defendants, through their drug trafficking activities, assumed control over multiple apartments, where they stored, cooked, packaged and sold drugs. As a result, their activities caused a blight of the development and reduced the quality of life of the other residents.

The investigation, which included Chaplin, also targeted large-scale drug suppliers and their associates. It is alleged that the targets continued to distribute cocaine and cocaine base throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown.

During the investigation, a search warrant of a “stash house” associated with Chaplin recovered over 400 grams of cocaine, six firearms, multiple rounds of ammunition and drug paraphernalia, including a digital scale.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Douglas Bartlett, Acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Boston Police Acting Commissioner Gregory Long made the announcement. Assistance with the investigation was provided by the Braintree, Cambridge, Canton, Randolph and Weymouth Police Departments; the Suffolk, Norfolk and Bristol County District Attorneys’ Offices; and the Suffolk, Plymouth and Norfolk County Sheriffs’ Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kaitlin O’Donnell and Timothy Moran of Mendell’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit 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.