A New Bedford man accused of dealing opiates in the region will spend the next two-and-a-half years in a state prison.
The Bristol County District Attorney's office Tuesday announced that Henry Barbosa, 40, pleaded guilty to separate indictments charging him with two counts of possession of a Class B drug with intent to distribute-subsequent offense. The district attorney's office identified the drug as Oxycodone.
Barbosa was first charged following his arrest on May 30, 2013, after a Massachusetts State Trooper stopped Barbosa's vehicle on Interstate 195 in Westport after noticing the car lacked a valid inspection sticker. During the stop, the trooper also determined Barbosa was driving with an expired license. A search of Barbosa resulted in the finding of a white pill bottle with no name or label. Inside the bottle was 55 Oxycodone pills. Barbosa was also in possession of $7,000 in cash.
Barbosa was arrested again on February 12, 2014, following a New Bedford Police investigation into the sale of Oxycodone. During the investigation, police witnessed a hand-to-hand transaction in a supermarket parking lot. Barbosa was immediately arrested and found to be in possession of 55 Percocet pills and nearly $3,000 in cash. A subsequent search of the defendant’s residence revealed another $12,000 in cash and a box with six separate bags containing more than 500 pills of Oxycodone.
In addition to his prison sentence, Barbosa was placed on two years of probation and more than $14,000 of the defendant’s drug proceeds have been forfeited civilly.
“This is a defendant, at the age of 40, who has made huge profits off of individuals who are addicted to opiates,” District Attorney Thomas Quinn said in a statement. “The state prison sentence and forfeiture of his ill-gotten cash holds him accountable.”