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Press Release

Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Firearm and Drug Offenses

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
Defendant possessed a loaded firearm and over 200 grams of cocaine while driving impaired

BOSTON – A Haverhill man with multiple prior felony convictions, including manslaughter, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to possessing a loaded firearm and drugs intended for distribution.

Ramon Silvelo-Miles, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. District Court Judge Dennis F. Saylor IV, scheduled sentencing for May 9, 2024. Silvelo-Miles was charged by criminal complaint in January 2022.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2021, Silvelo-Miles was stopped by law enforcement for driving erratically on Route 24 in West Bridgewater. Field sobriety tests administered on-site indicated that Silvelo-Miles was too impaired to drive. A subsequent search of the defendant’s car uncovered over 200 grams of cocaine and 9 grams of fentanyl packaged in small, clear plastic bags in a small backpack inside the glove compartment. Hidden by the defendant next to the backpack in the glove compartment was a Raven Arms MP-25 .25 caliber pistol within a black sock. The gun was loaded with one bullet in the chamber and five bullets in the magazine. Silvelo-Miles is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to multiple prior felony convictions including a 2014 conviction for manslaughter. 

The charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime provides for a minimum mandatory sentence of five years in prison, up to life, which must be served consecutively with any other term of imprisonment imposed in the case, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. 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 and James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak, III of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Updated February 7, 2024

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses