Two suspects were arraigned Monday in Brookline District Court and one will be arraigned Wednesday after being arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within a park zone.
One of the suspects is a Boston University student, police officials said.
Brookline Police Department officers arrested three young males, including a Boston University student, on Oct. 17 after the suspects allegedly received a shipment of marijuana in their Freeman Street apartment building, according to the Brookline Police blog.
Officers arrested BU student Jesse Pomponio, 24, Wednesday afternoon zone, Brookline Detective Sergeant William Riley said.
Riley said he could not confirm if Pomponio was an undergraduate or a graduate student.
According to the BU Directory, Pomponio is a College of Arts and Sciences undergraduate student.
Brookline Police received a call from a Sacramento, Calif., police drug-task force officer saying a package containing four to five pounds of marijuana had been sent to a tenant of the Freeman Street apartment, according to the Brookline PD blog.
Brookline responded to the apartment and spoke with front desk security officers at about 3:30 p.m., the blog stated. Security officers told police certain tenants picked up packages sent to another tenant.
Security officers told police the package was addressed to a person who was not actually a tenant of the building, the blog stated.
Riley said police also arrested Luyun Zhang, 21, and Stephen Alexandrescu. Both are students at local colleges, but not BU.
The three suspects are charged with possession of a class D substance with intent to distribute within a park zone, according to the blog.
Police executed a search warrant at the Freeman Street apartment and found 10–15 pounds of marijuana and $117,000 in cash.
Riley said he believes the three suspects were released on bail.
Although marijuana possession was decriminalized in Massachusetts in 2009, the law only reduces possession of one ounce or less of marijuana from a criminal offense to a civil infraction punishable by a $100 civil penalty and forfeiture of the contraband, according to legislation.
Possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in California is an infraction punishable by a maximum $100 fine as of Jan. 2011 legislation. Possession of larger amounts of marijuana is a misdemeanor and possession with intent to sell is a felony.
Patients and doctors are permitted to possess and cultivate medical marijuana with a physician’s recommendation in California, but may not distribute or sell.
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You guys should really stop publicizing names when you release stories like this. Why make a story out of this anyway. Whose business on earth is it to know the identity of the people involved??? Why would BUPD release these names to the press?
Mind your own business about how the administration runs this university. Too bad the names were published. Good I hope they’re ruined for life. That’ll teach them to possess drugs.
Sad their lives are going to be ruined over something as silly and harmless as marijuana. The drugs don’t destroy people’s lives, the laws do.
It is unfortunate that the names are published, but I guess it’s public info.
The drug probably doesn’t directly destroy people’s lives, but BU students should be smart enough to understand their consequences. Not understanding/liking a law isn’t a great reason to break it. Regardless of how people feel (legally) about marijuana, students shouldn’t be selling it. Assuming the $117k is from selling, that’s messed up. They’re in school to learn skills for their future careers. Most people that start working after BU have to pay taxes on their income. Selling drugs, while possibly a lucrative opportunity, is cheating.
Also, it seems dumb to send it in the mail. I wonder if the Sacramento cops tell the mail carrier about it.
Let’s all agree on the following: marijuana prohibition is stupid, and so is selling $117,000 worth of marijuana.
On a lighter note, I like how the cop on CBS Boston had this to say: “Times, you know, are tough. They’re paying a lotta money to go to college. They’re enterprising young people.” So respectful.