WORCESTER— A 28-year-old Worcester man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
Stephen Scott Jr. of 2 Duncannon Ave. was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court by Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV on charges of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Mr. Scott, who was convicted by a jury Oct. 19, filed notice of his intent to appeal.
While convicting him on three charges, the jury found Mr. Scott not guilty of a fourth charge, using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Mr. Scott was arrested at his apartment Dec. 8, 2005, after U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and parole officers found 104 grams of crack, a defaced semi-automatic handgun and nearly $3,000 in cash, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Hennessy. They also found materials to weigh and package crack cocaine for distribution, as well as a shirt with a design of a red stop sign with the words “Stop Snitching.”
The arrest came about a year after Mr. Scott had been paroled in December 2004 from an 8- to 10-year sentence for trafficking in cocaine. The earlier sentence followed a 1997 arrest in which Mr. Scott had been stopped for speeding and police found a loaded .25 caliber handgun under the driver’s seat and two large rocks of crack in the trunk of the car, Mr. Hennessy said.
Defense lawyer Peter L. Ettenberg urged Judge Saylor to impose a 12-year sentence, arguing that previous judicial opinions authorize the use of discretion to dip below the mandatory minimum sentence — in this case 20 years in prison. The lawyer said that Mr. Scott, with one previous conviction for a serious drug offense, is not a drug kingpin or mastermind or even a career drug dealer.
The son of two unmarried crack addicts, Mr. Scott was moved to four different states before settling in Worcester in 1993, where he lived in eight residences in four years, Mr. Ettenberg said. Despite a “horrendous upbringing” Mr. Scott graduated from North High School under circumstances that would cause others to drop out, and he remains caring and upbeat, Mr. Ettenberg said.
But Mr. Hennessy said that nothing in the court decisions cited by the defense permits a judge to disregard the statutory limitations on imposing a sentence of less than 20 years.
Besides the 20-year sentence, Judge Saylor also imposed a $300 assessment and 10 years of post-release supervision.
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