A repeat offender from Lowell has copped to slinging drugs and packing heat, feds say.
Ricardo Colon, 34, guilty-pleaded to having his hands dirty with fentanyl and cocaine, plus being caught with a trio of firearms and enough ammo to start a small war – all of which he's not supposed to have, given his rap sheet, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. The misstep could send him away for a decade for the firearms charge alone, not to mention the drug rap that could slap him with another 20 years behind bars.
Found by the feds on March 21, 2022, the Lowell man had with him a .22 caliber revolver, two 9 mm pistols, various gun magazines, and a stockpile of 140 rounds of ammunition. Colon's past convictions prohibited him from owning such firepower, stated U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy in the announcement on March 22.
Judge Allison D. Burroughs is set to deliver the sentence this summer on June 10. Under the heavy hand of the law, Colon could also face three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000 for the gun charge, while the drug offenses could add a lifetime of supervised release and a penalty of up to $1 million on top of his prison term.
Colon's case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a DOJ program aimed at chopping down violent crime by joining forces with local stakeholders to hammer out strategies to take down the worst of the worst when it comes to violent perps and bolster prevention and reentry initiatives for criminals looking to go straight.
