Pawtucket Resident Sentenced for Trafficking Methamphetamine

PROVIDENCE, RI – A Pawtucket resident who admitted to selling substantial quantities of methamphetamine has been sentenced to 5 years in federal prison, announced Acting United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch; Warwick Police Chief Colonel Stephen M. McCartney; Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves; and Mickey Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Christopher Bergeron, 46, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on September 22, 2017, to possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. He was arrested on May 4, 2017, after Warwick Police seized 15 grams of methamphetamine from Bergeron’s vehicle and Pawtucket Police seized 121 grams of methamphetamine during a court authorized search of his residence.

Bergeron’s drug trafficking activities came to the attention of law enforcement during an unrelated investigation into the methamphetamine trafficking activities of Jon Cascella, 49, of Warwick. A federal court jury recently convicted Cascella on four counts of distribution of methamphetamine, two counts of distribution of 5 grams or more of methamphetamine, and one count each of possession with intent to distribute 5 grams or more of methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of a firearm arm and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Cascella is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith on March 2, 2018.

At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith also ordered Christopher Bergeron to serve 4 years supervised release upon completion of his term of incarceration. The statutorily required minimum sentence of 5 years imposed by the Court is greater than the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines imprisonment range in this matter of 41-51 months. The government recommended the Court impose a sentence of 60 months of incarceration.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind M. Shah, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Zechariah Chafee.

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