Chelsea gang member sentenced for conspiracy involving Revere attempted murder

BOSTON — A man from Chelsea was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Boston for conspiracy involving an attempted murder and drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.

The judge sentenced Brandon Baez to ten years in prison and five years of supervised release.

Baez pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity and one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and cocaine.

Prosecutors said Baez was identified as a member of the East Side Money Gang, a Chelsea-based street gang, during an investigation into a network of street gangs that had created alliances to traffic weapons and drugs throughout Massachusetts. The gang uses violence to protect members and associates, target rival gang members and associates and intimidate potential witnesses.

According to intercepted phone calls in April 2016, Baez informed Angel Mejia, a leader in the East Side Money Gang, he had just shot two men in a black Cadillac at a gas station in Revere because he believed they were members of a rival street gang, prosecutors added. Baez told Mejia he believed he had killed at least one of the intended victims.

According to prosecutors, Mejia and fellow gang member Josue Rodriguez gave Baez the .22 caliber revolver used in the shooting just two days prior. Following the shooting, Baez asked Mejia for help to get a larger caliber handgun after learning that no one was killed during the shooting in Revere.

Police later arrested Baez in Chelsea and said he was carrying the same .22 caliber used in the shooting in Revere.

In October 2017, Rodriguez was sentenced to more than ten years in prison and five years of supervised release.

This past June, Mejia was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release.

Last month, Jesus Perez, a leader in a rival Chelsea-based street gang (the Outlaws), was sentenced to 20 years in prison and four years of supervised release for multiple federal charges, including violent crime in aid of racketeering, drug trafficking and firearms charges.

Baez is one of 53 defendants indicted in June 2016 on federal firearms and drug charges following an investigation into a network of street gangs that created alliances to traffic weapons and drugs and to generate violence against rival gang members.

According to court documents, the defendants, who are leaders, members, and associates of the 18th Street Gang, East Side Money Gang and the Boylston Street Gang, were responsible for fueling a gun and drug pipeline across a number of cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts.

During the investigation, more than 70 firearms were seized.

Cox Media Group