Dedham Man With Domestic Issue History Tried Buying Gun, Silencer

DEDHAM, MA — A Dedham man with a history of domestic disputes admitted to trying to buy two pistols and a silencer. Brian Zaleski pled guilty in Norfolk Superior Court last week to two counts of carrying a firearm, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey.

Zaleski was sentenced to two and a half years in the Norfolk County House of Correction, 18 months to serve, the balance suspended for two years. Probation supervision during those two years will include GPS monitoring (which can be revisited after 6 months), drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment, continue with mental health treatment, submit to random drug and alcohol screening, abide by the restraining order held by a former partner and her children, and have no direct or indirect contact with that woman.

“This investigation began when Dedham police developed information that Brian Zaleski was in possession of firearms and was looking to purchase more – potentially in the state of Maine,” District Attorney Morrissey said.

Officers contacted Zaleski by text to a known cell phone number. “An undercover operative made an initial purchase of 2.5 grams of what is alleged to be heroin for $200 in Brockton on March 1, 2019 to build trust with the suspect,” Morrissey said. “A second undercover buy was arranged for March 22nd, this time in Canton. The defendant was looking for a .22 caliber pistol with a suppresser, or silencer, and a .380 pistol. For that he was going to provide 8 grams of heroin and fentanyl and $430.”

Once the exchange was complete, he was arrested by members of the four agencies. At that point, he volunteered to the officers that what he handed them was not in fact heroin, but melatonin. A search of his residence yielded more than a thousand rounds of .22 and other caliber ammunition, possibly left at that residence by a relative who had previously passed away.

“There is not peaceful, lawful use for a suppressor,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “While we don’t know what the intended use was, I am confident that the success of the local, state and federal officers on this task force prevented a very dangerous situation.”