Pittsfield Man Gets Prison Time For Drug Trafficking

Once again the "justice bell" rang with clarity last week in Boston as Judge Gorton brought down the hammer and sentenced a Pittsfield man to over a decade in prison for his role in a massive drug trafficking conspiracy.

A lot of newsworthy events happened last week, so if you didn't hear about it, you can't be faulted. It was an "if you blinked you may have missed it" type of thing. Edward Chapman, 54, of Pittsfield, had his day in court.

According to the US Department of Justice, Chapman was sentenced to 11 years in prison and eight years of supervised release for his part in a trafficking conspiracy to distribute multiple drugs around the Boston area.

Apparently, Chapman has been convicted numerous times on drug distribution offenses. You would think he would have learned by now. Perhaps his previous punishments weren't severe enough?

The US Department of Justice, in a media statement, reports that two years ago in March 2020:

Chapman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, oxycodone, and marijuana.

A 2018 investigation into a Brockton drug trafficking organization identified Edward Chapman as a heroin and cocaine dealer. Chapman's source was co-member Jose Perez Felix. Again, according to the US Department of Justice, "intercepted calls revealed that Chapman regularly picked up heroin and cocaine from Perez Felix".

In June 2019, a federal grand jury in Boston returned a 16-count indictment against Chapman and several others with controlled substance and firearm offenses. Chapman is the 11th out of 16 defendants to be sentenced in the case.

For more on the story, please visit the US Department of Justice's website here.