Springfield Man Sentenced on Drug Charges

BOSTON—A Springfield man was sentenced today in federal court for Distribution of Cocaine Base.

JAMES COLLINS, 33, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to 13 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by eight years of supervised release. Collins pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base on September 30, 2010.

At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the court that had the case proceeded to trial, the government’s evidence would have proven that Collins sold a total of nearly 100 grams of crack cocaine to a cooperating witness on two occasions.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Mark Mastroianni, Hampden County District Attorney; Colonel Marian McGovern, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner William Fitchet of the Springfield Police Department; and Michael J. Ashe, Jr., Hampden County Sheriff made the announcement today. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force, consisting of law enforcement personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Massachusetts State Police, the Springfield Police Department, and the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office. The FBI’s Gang Task Force is assisted by the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Unit.