Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A man has received a 10-year prison sentence after being found guilty of drug and weapons charges, it was announced on Tuesday by U.S. Attorney Attorney Peter F. Neronha.

U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith sentenced Stiven F. Polanco, 22, of Providence, on Friday in U.S. District Court, Providence. Polanco had been charged with trafficking in heroin and possessing a gun, Neronha said in a news release.

Polanco and David Contreras sold heroin to an undercover DEA task force agent, and were arrested a week later when they had arranged to sell additional heroin, Neronha said. Agents found a stash of heroin and a loaded handgun in a hidden compartment in Polanco's car.

Contreras pleaded guilty to his role in the heroin deals. Judge Smith sentenced him to 125 months in prison in September.

At Polanco's trial in June, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Milind M. Shah and Sandra R. Hebert presented evidence that, on Dec. 3, 2008, an undercover agent bought 20 grams of heroin from Contreras for $1,500 at a shopping mall. Agents had observed Polanco with Contreras shortly before the deal.

The agent arranged to buy 100 grams of heroin from Contreras on December 9 for $6,500. When agents arrived at a meeting place outside a movie theater, they saw Contreras and Polanco in a car belonging to Polanco, arrested the two men, and searched the car.

In a mechanized hidden compartment, agents found several packages of heroin and a loaded .45-caliber handgun. A subsequent search of an apartment linked to Polanco on Plainfield Street, Providence, turned up additional heroin and about $1,000 in cash, some of it traced to the Dec. 3 heroin sale.

Contreras, 24, of Providence, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin, and a jury convicted Polanco of four charges related to the sale of heroin, including possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense, which added five consecutive years to Polanco's prison sentence.

 Tags  Heroin U.S. Attorney Attorney Peter F. Neronha

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