Prison For South Coast Heroin Dealer After Walmart Bust

NEW BEDFORD, MA — A South Coast drug dealer with nearly a dozen convictions was recently sentenced to prison again. Israel Gonzalez, 52, of New Bedford, will serve 3-5 years in prison after he pleaded guilty last week to heroin possession with intent to distribute and being a habitual offender.

Gonzalez was arrested in December 2016 in Fairhaven after police said officers observed him deal heroin to a woman in the parking lot of Walmart. Police said he hid the heroin in the barrel of a Sharpie marker.

Gonzalez has 10 drug dealing convictions on his record, according to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn.

“This defendant has a long history of drug dealing in the area,” Quinn said in a statement. “Although there were not a lot of narcotics seized by police during the drug buy they witnessed, it is clear that his continued drug dealing and lengthy criminal record warranted a state prison sentence.”

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