Somerville Drug Bust: 3 Arrested in Alleged Heroin Deal

SOMERVILLE, MA – Three Somerville residents were arrested Saturday after undercover officers interrupted an alleged drug deal on Mt. Vernon Street. Michael Carney, 33, Steven Nunziato, 59, and Janet Jefferson, 58, during an ongoing investigation involving Carney, police said.

Police in Somerville began investigating Carney's residence on the unit block of Bailey Road after neighbors complained about alleged drug activity at the home. The residence is "well-known" to officers as the site of previous overdoses and drug arrests, police said.

Over the course of two months, police surveilled the home. During that time, officers saw several cars park in the area of the home and a white male would come outside and sit in the cars for about a minute before heading back inside, according to the police report.

Police said known heroin users also came and went from the home and determined the "quick meets" at the home and in cars to be drug deals conducted by Carney.

At 5:25 p.m. Saturday evening, four undercover detectives were surveilling the Bailey Street home when Carney and another man left with a pit bull in tow. They entered a red Malibu and drove to the intersection of Broadway and Mt. Vernon Street, police said.

Nunziato was standing at the corner of Broadway and Mt. Vernon Street and "appeared to be waiting for someone," as he kept looking west down Broadway, police said. Nunziato is known to the Somerville Police Department as a heroin user due to previous incidents, according to the report.

Carney met up with Nunziato and the two walked into a home on the unit block of Mt. Vernon Street. The detectives, believing a drug deal was about to take place, approached the men in the common hallway of the residence. When asked what they were doing, the men gave conflicting stories, police said.

Carney and Nunziato were arrested based on active warrants. While in custody, Carney allegedly admitted to one of the detectives that he had heroin in his right shoe. A package of heroin was found in the sole of Carney's right sneaker and a black cell phone was seized from his pant pocket, police said.

The driver of the Malibu told police he was over at Carney's house when Jefferson – Nunziato's girlfriend – allegedly called Carney and asked for $50 worth of heroin. The driver was not arrested.

Jefferson declined to speak with police and was taken into custody for a drug related arrest warrant.

Carney is charged with conspiracy to violate drug law and possession of a Class A drug with intent to distribute. He also faces warrant charges of possession of a Class A drug and being present where heroin is being kept.

Nunziato faces a warrant charge of shoplifting by asportation and Jefferson faces warrant charges of distribution of a Class A drug and conspiracy to violate drug law.

Editor's Note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Somerville Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a Massachusetts Patch police report.

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