Taunton man ordered held after arrest in Dartmouth on fentanyl trafficking charges – News – southcoasttoday.com

Curt Brown @CurtBrown_SCT

NEW BEDFORD — A Taunton man was ordered held for four months as he awaits trial after his arrest Friday night on fentanyl trafficking charges in Dartmouth.

Joe Manuel Matias, 29, of 562 Winthrop St. was found to be dangerous by Judge Edward F.X. Lynch after a pre-trial detention hearing Monday in New Bedford District Court. The judge ordered him held without bail at the Bristol County House of Correction for the next 120 days.

Matias is charged with trafficking fentanyl more than 10 grams and resisting arrest, according to court documents.

Defense attorney Joseph F. Krowski Jr. of Brockton said he plans to appeal the bail decision to Superior Court. 

The charges stem from a motor vehicle stop by state police for an expired inspection sticker about 6:35 p.m. Friday on State Road near the Shaw’s Supermarket in Dartmouth, court records say. Matias was a passenger in a black 2012 Kia Optima, which pulled into the shopping center when requested to do so by state police.

However, the driver did not stop immediately after pulling into the parking lot and a trooper saw Matias leaning towards the center of the car and then leaning forward and out of sight. 

There were two troopers in the cruiser and one approached the driver’s side and the other approached the passenger side, court records say. State police saw Matias lean slightly forward with his hands behind him in the area of buttocks and then moving his hands in front of him. Matias was sweating profusely and the trooper ordered him from the car and then removed him from the vehicle.

State police found one plastic bag containing six bags of fentanyl at the top of the rear of his waistband, court records say. The bags were later weighed and found to contain 55 grams of fentanyl.

The driver said she had no idea Matias was in possession of drugs, court records say. She was given a citation for an expired inspection sticker.

Krowski said bail was set at $10,000 cash Friday night by a clerk-magistrate and his client appeared for court Monday and never tried to flee.

State police also did not find any knives or guns on Matias, the attorney said. “Holding someone as a danger is supposed to be the exception, not the rule,” Krowski said. “This is not the type of case where he should be deprived of his liberties.”

Prosecutor Shawn Guilderson said Matias served a three-year state prison sentence for assault and battery, now faces a 5-year minimum mandatory sentence on the fentanyl trafficking charges, has an 18-page criminal record, eight defaults and four probation violations.

The prosecutor recommended Matias be held without bail and said $10,000 cash bail is too low.

Follow Curt Brown on Twitter @CurtBrown_SCT