Roxbury Man Pleads Guilty to Drug and Gun Offenses

BOSTON – A Roxbury man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to gun and drug offenses.

Omari Peterson, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base (crack cocaine) and two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. U.S. District Court Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Sept. 7, 2022.

In January 2021, an investigation began into drug trafficking activities by Peterson in the Boston area. On Feb. 18, 2021, Peterson sold crack cocaine and cocaine to a cooperating witness. A search of Peterson’s apartment on March 5, 2021 recovered two firearms, a Sig Sauer P220 pistol and a Ruger LCP .380 pistol, along with 136 rounds of various caliber ammunition. During a subsequent search of Peterson’s storage unit in Quincy on March 6, 2021, six additional firearms and 67 rounds of various caliber ammunition were also seized.

The charge of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base 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 charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three 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.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Boston Police Acting Commissioner Gregory Long; Randolph Police Chief Anthony Marag; and Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan made the announcement. The investigation was led by FBI’s Metro Boston Gang Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Dawley of Rollins’ Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.