A 22-year-old New Bedford man, Cheybane Vasconcelos-Furtado, has been sentenced to serve three to five years in Massachusetts State Prison for his involvement in a drive-by shooting that injured an undercover detective and another man back in 2023. Vasconcelos-Furtado pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact of an assault and battery with a firearm, as reported by the Boston Globe.
According to the MassLive, the sentencing took place following an incident that occurred on July 17, 2023, when Detective Lavar Gilbert and a second victim, Anthony Ruiz, were shot at the intersection of Rivet and Orchard streets. Gilbert, who was on duty at the time, was struck in the face while driving in his vehicle, while Ruiz was hit in the foot. Surveillance footage played a crucial role in identifying a 2014 Honda Accord as a suspect vehicle involved in the shooting.
Further investigation led authorities to more surveillance video which captured Vasconcelos-Furtado entering the driver's seat of the suspect vehicle shortly after 8 p.m. on the same day of the attack. He was then seen driving to 12 Tallman St., where three men entered the car. The vehicle eventually made its way to the scene of the shooting. Prosecutors said that muzzle flashes from the rear passenger area of the Honda were also visible on the footage, and two spent shell casings were later recovered by the police.
The day following the shooting, the Honda Accord was found in Rhode Island, where police found Vasconcelos-Furtado's fingerprints on the driver's side. "I am pleased that the defendant was held accountable for his role in this double shooting where Detective Lavar Gilbert was shot while on duty," Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III stated, as reported by MassLive. The DA's office further mentioned that at the time of the shooting, Vasconcelos-Furtado had already been on probation due to motor vehicle offenses. Consequently, he was also sentenced to one year in the House of Correction for violating his probation, a sentence that will not count towards his state prison time.
Vasconcelos-Furtado's arrest came one week after the shooting, and he was subsequently held without bail, deemed a danger to the community. With the guilty plea and subsequent sentencing, the court proceedings have brought a degree of closure to an event that tested the New Bedford community, especially the local law enforcement.
