Violent Boston gang member who posed with firearms on Snapchat sentenced to more than six years in prison – New Bedford guide

On Friday, June 7, 2024, a Boston-area man was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm while under house arrest on three state firearms charges.

Trevon Bell, 27, of Boston and Lynn, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Bell pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in November 2023.

As part of a 2021 investigation into a violent Boston gang, law enforcement intercepted a Snapchat “chat” involving people who regularly showed photos of themselves with firearms.

One of the people identified in the chat was Bell, a member of the brutal Heath Street gang from Boston. Bell was charged in state court with three separate counts of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and was released on house arrest with the ability to monitor his location using a GPS bracelet. However, the investigation revealed that while on state pretrial release, Bell posted numerous videos on Snapchat of himself in possession of firearms, including a video from November 24, 2021, which appears to show him in possession of a black semi-automatic Glock 9 millimeter weapon. The weapon was found:

The operation was carried out as part of the Organized Crime Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force initiative, which envisages the establishment of permanent, multi-agency task forces working side by side in the same location. This co-location model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate in intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle major drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations. More information about the OCDETF program can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Division; and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division, made the announcement. Special assistance in the investigation was provided by the Boston, Quincy and Lynn Police Departments and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Pohl of the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit.