The owner of a Brockton streetwear store where investigators found guns tucked inside a vending machine and a secret counter drawer has pleaded guilty to federal drug and firearms charges. Felipe Jonet-Branco, 31, admitted to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and 10 counts of possessing a firearm as a felon, stemming from a February 4 search of his shop, Banks & Brancos, at 828 Crescent Street in Brockton.
According to MassLive, police recovered 10 firearms from the store during the search, including eight guns concealed in a hidden drawer built into the front counter, one gun found in the back storage room, and another stashed inside a vending machine. That hidden drawer also held large-capacity magazines and empty bottles of promethazine with codeine, per the outlet's report.
Investigators also seized more than $40,000 in cash, over 35 pounds of marijuana, and 200 grams of psilocin mushrooms from the location, MassLive reported. Among the 10 firearms taken from the storefront were a large-caliber rifle and a Glock handgun fitted with a machine gun conversion device, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Jonet-Branco was legally barred from possessing any firearm because of a prior felony battery conviction in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the outlet's report notes.
A Storefront Doubling as a Gang Stash House
The raid on Banks & Brancos was not an isolated bust. It formed part of a search of multiple stash locations tied to a Brockton-based Harvard Street Gang investigation, the same report states. Federal and state authorities have been building a case against the gang since 2019, a probe that has led to charges against more than 20 leaders, members, and associates, according to the federal prosecutors' office.
Before federal charges were unsealed, Jonet-Branco was arraigned in Brockton District Court on Feb. 5, facing 26 state charges brought by the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, including machine gun possession and 10 counts of possessing large-capacity feeding devices. State prosecutors successfully moved to hold him without bail following his arrest, which happened during a traffic stop the same day investigators raided his store.
The search was carried out jointly by the FBI Boston Division, the Massachusetts State Police Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team, Brockton Police, and Randolph Police, with support from more than a dozen local departments, per the Plymouth County DA's office. Seven members and associates of the Harvard Street Gang were charged in February following a series of search warrants that included Jonet-Branco's store, a case Hoodline covered in an earlier report on the indictments.
Broader Sweep Across Five Communities
The February sweep extended well beyond Brockton, targeting Harvard Street Gang members and Randolph-based affiliates across Brockton, Randolph, Boston, Taunton, and West Bridgewater. According to Boston 25 News, the operation yielded 25 firearms, multiple kilograms of drugs, and more than $78,000 in cash region-wide, with federal investigators expanding the probe in 2025 to focus on joint Brockton and Randolph drug rings.
Jonet-Branco is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy on Nov. 2, 2026. He faces maximum statutory penalties of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine on the drug distribution count, along with up to 15 years in prison on each felon-in-possession count, though sentencing guidelines will ultimately guide Murphy's decision on the actual term.
Co-Defendants Already Sentenced
Several other men charged in the same investigation have already learned their fate. Co-defendant Jose Mendes, 36, of Randolph, pleaded guilty in federal court on July 8 to drug trafficking and firearm crimes after agents found fentanyl pills and a Glock fitted with a machine-gun conversion device at his residences; he is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Murphy on Oct. 5, according to the federal prosecutors' office.
Giovany Fouyolle was sentenced in June to 10 years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking and gun possession, while Adonis Graham was sentenced in July to 46 months, both arrested after a search of a luxury apartment stash house in Dorchester. In March, Harvard Street Gang member Joshua Tavares, 29, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after selling more than 500 grams of fentanyl to an informant and being caught with firearms equipped with machine-gun switches — a case Hoodline detailed when federal prosecutors secured his sentence. Those sentences, ranging from under four years to a dozen, offer a rough benchmark for what Jonet-Branco might expect when he stands before Judge Murphy in November, though prosecutors have not yet disclosed what term they will seek in their sentencing memorandum, and the status of any remaining co-defendants awaiting trial or plea deals remains unclear.
