Staff Report
(Greenfield, MA) Three years ago, twelve local law enforcement agencies began an investigation of a cocaine trafficking operation out of a barber shop on Chapman Street. Yesterday, two of the four men convicted of operating the drug ring began their sentences in state prison. 40-year-old Daniel Rice Jr and 37-year-old Brandon Rice, who are brothers, reported to Franklin County Superior Court to begin their sentences of five to eight years in prison. Two others have already begun their sentences.
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(05/26/2023) Another defendant in the cocaine trafficking syndicate ran partially out of the Greenfield barbershop, Dapper Dan’s, has pleaded guilty Thursday. Jason Byrd, 43 years old from Greenfield, pleaded guilty at a change-of-plea hearing yesterday and has been sentenced to three to five years in prison, to be served at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. Byrd was granted a stay of sentence to allow him to train employees who will take over for him in his job.
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(05/04/2023) Two defendants in the cocaine trafficking syndicate ran out of a Greenfield barbershop appeared in Franklin County Superior Court Tuesday. Nathan Ortiz and David Caplice both pleaded guilty and are expected to be sentenced Monday to three to five years in prison. Their charges include trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug law. Last month, brothers Daniel Rice and Brandon Rice, along with their mother Raeline Phelps, all pleaded guilty and the brothers were sentenced to five to eight years in prison while the Phelps was given administrative probation for two years.