BOSTON MAN SENTENCED TO 262 MONTHS IN PRISON ON DRUG AND GUN OFFENSES
BOSTON, Mass. - A Boston man was sentenced late yesterday in federal court for drug and firearm offenses.
BRIMA WURIE, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to 262 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. In February 2010, Wurie was convicted in a jury trial of distribution of crack cocaine, possessing additional crack cocaine with intent to distribute and being a felon-in-possession of a firearm.
Evidence presented during trial proved that Wurie was dealing crack cocaine in the Andrew Square area of South Boston. The Boston Police Department’s District C-6 Drug Control Unit observed Wurie conduct what they believed to be a drug deal and obtained crack cocaine from Wurie’s drug customer. Wurie was subsequently placed under arrest by officers. During booking, officers obtained additional information that Wurie had been operating his drug business out of a South Boston condominium. Officers froze the location and obtained a search warrant after going to that address and determining that it likely contained additional drugs. Execution of the warrant later that day resulted in the seizure of over 200 grams of additional crack cocaine, various drug paraphernalia, a loaded Smith & Wesson nine millimeter firearm, and additional amounts of .40 caliber hollow point ammunition.
At yesterday’s sentencing hearing, the government established that Wurie had a long history of violent crime going back to 1996 and had three or more convictions for either a crime of violence or a serious drug offense, thereby qualifying Wurie as an Armed Career Criminal under 18 U.S.C. §924(e). As a result, Wurie faced a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence on the firearm charge alone.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Guy Thomas, Special Agent Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, made the announcement today. The case was investigated by the Boston Police Department’s District C-6 Drug Control Unit. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Ortiz’s Organized Crime Strike Force/Gang Unit and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned from Conley’s Office.
