Brendon Amado, an associate of the Boston-based Cameron Street gang, will spend nearly six years behind bars for his role in a violent home invasion robbery. Sentencing occurred yesterday under U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young, imposing 70 months of incarceration and three years of supervised release, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office. Amado, who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats or violence back in February, was identified as part of a group that prides itself on maintaining dominance through force, as iterated by federal authorities.
The crime occurred in July 2018, when Amado, along with gang members Deronde Bethea and Michael Nguyen, forcibly entered a home in Canton believed to belong to a rival drug dealer. They brandished firearms and threatened those inside while searching for drugs and cash. The incident ended with them taking $2,000 and a safe. Surveillance footage captured Amado and Bethea prior to the robbery. Both men have been convicted, with Nguyen serving a 70-month sentence and Bethea facing a 250-month sentence, both followed by three years of supervised release.
The coordinated efforts leading to these convictions involved several law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and local Boston police, along with collaboration from various district attorney's offices and police departments across Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This operation is part of the broader Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which aims to disrupt and dismantle high-level criminal enterprises.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, along with other special agents in charge, highlighted the collaborative nature of the investigation and the role of the OCDETF. They noted in the press release, "This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations." The importance of due process is recognized, and the finding of guilt for those proven beyond a reasonable doubt reflects the operation of the American legal system.
