Man Pleads Guilty To Firearm Charges

BOSTON - A former Mattapan man pleaded guilty yesterday to possessing a firearm and ammunition.

Aylis Dryden, 27, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

On April 7, 2010, four Boston Police officers were on routine patrol in an unmarked cruiser in the vicinity of the Heath Street Housing Development in Jamaica Plain when they observed a large group of people gathered, some drinking from open containers of alcohol. The officers observed Dryden act suspiciously and make adjustments to his center front waistband, prompting one of the officers to ask Dryden if he was carrying a gun. Although Dryden initially denied having a gun, he inadvertently revealed it when he lifted his shirt at the officers’ request. Ultimately, officers seized the gun as he attempted to flee. Dryden, a previously convicted felon, was arrested and transported in a cruiser, where the officers found additional ammunition.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 1, 2013. The sentence under the statute is a minimum of 15 years and up to life in prison, followed by up to five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Guy Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Boston Field Office; and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett and Lisa Asiaf Schlatz.