Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Previously Convicted Felon Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Firearm and Drug Offenses
Defendant posted images on Snapchat posing with firearms while on supervised release
BOSTON — A Boston-area man was sentenced yesterday for illegally possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number while on supervised release from an earlier federal firearm charge.
Dane Mitchell, 32, of Boston and Revere, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to seven years in prison and three years of supervised release. In October 2023, Mitchell pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
In 2021, as part of an investigation into a violent Boston gang, Mitchell was identified as the owner of a Snapchat account who regularly posted images of himself in possession of firearms. Specifically, images showed Mitchell’s face with firearms and bullet holes in his vehicle after he had been shot at. Mitchell is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to a 2018 federal conviction in the District of Maine for unlawful transportation of firearms, for which he was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
During a search of Mitchell’s Revere residence in December 2021, a Taurus .380 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number, ammunition, bags of cocaine, cocaine base, fentanyl, cutting agents, a digital scale, a blender and a press for packaging narcotics were seized.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy; James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Boston Division; and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New England Division made the announcement. Special assistance in the investigation was provided by the Boston, Quincy and Lynn Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Pohl of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
The operation was conducted is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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