Feds indict New Bedford man on drug charges – News – southcoasttoday.com

Curt Brown @CurtBrown_SCT

BOSTON — A New Bedford man was indicted Wednesday on federal drug charges, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Davaun Oswald, 22, is charged in indictments out of U.S. District Court, Boston, with one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl and marijuana, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The charges stem from a drug raid at Oswald’s apartment by the New Bedford Police Department’s narcotics unit, the Organized Crime Intelligence Bureau, on Jan. 31, where police found about 15 grams of a mixture of heroin and fentanyl as well as over 450 grams of marijuana, federal prosecutors said. The raid followed an investigation into drug distribution in and around New Bedford.

Oswald has been in state custody since his arrest on Jan. 31, federal prosecutors said.

When police raided Oswald’s residence at 32 Nye St., Apartment 1 North, he claimed he did not have any fentanyl in his home, according to documents in New Bedford District Court. “No, the only thing I have is a little bit of weed,” police quoted him as saying. “I don’t even mess with fentanyl. Fentanyl, I don’t even sell fentanyl. I just sell weed.”

However, a New Bedford detective saw Oswald apparently trying to stuff something down the rear of his pants, checked and found a bag containing 17.2 grams of fentanyl, court records say.

Police also found 20 plastic bags containing 477.5 grams of marijuana, packaging materials, digital scales and $1,115 in cash, court records say.

The charge of distribution of a controlled substance provides for a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $2 million, federal prosecutors said in their news release.

The announcement of Oswald’s indictment was made Wednesday by U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI; Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III; and New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Soivilien of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

This prosecution 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 make neighborhoods safer, federal prosecutors said.

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