Roxbury man gets nearly ten years for trafficking drugs while on probabtion for selling drugs

A federal judge in Boston has sentenced Lyndon Scott, 32, a member of the Orchard Park Trailblazers Gang, to 117 months in federal prison following his admission that both a saleable quantity of crack and a loaded gun were found in his car in 2019.

Scott had not even finished his first of six years of probation - following his release in June 2018 on a drug-sales conviction in a case that started when he was caught selling crack to a government informant, near the Orchard Park development.

His probation came after he finished a 15-month sentence for selling crack to an informant working for the FBI as part of a BPD/federal crackdown on drugs and violence in an near the Orchard Park development. At the time of that arrest, Scott already had two gun convictions - one dating to when he was just 20 - and was on pre-trial release on another, unrelated drug charge, the US Attorney's office says.

This time around, federal prosecutors asked for a sentence of nearly 11 years, saying enough was enough, after Scott pleaded guilty to possession of crack with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense, saying enough was enough:

Over the years, various courts have tried to modify Scott's criminal conduct with probation, suspended sentences, and supervised release. Scott ignored every warning sign, violated every court order, and willfully and intentionally continued to poison the residents of a Roxbury housing development while armed with a high-capacity firearm. All that is left to do is to impose the sentence which Scott, through his actions, has chosen for himself.

His attorney, however, asked for a sentence of a little under six years, saying that alone was five times as long as his previous sentence and that that increase is "appropriate because of the serious nature of the crime, particularly the possession of a firearm, and because the offenses were committed while Mr. Scott was on supervised release."

Anything longer, she argued, would be unduly harsh, given a recent Justice Department study that found Blacks faced far longer sentences for crack possession than Whites. Also, the sentence should reflect that the Scott only owned the gun to protect his drug trade, not for any other reason:

There is no suggestion from the Government that Mr. Scott possessed the firearm in the Jeep for any reason other than the need to protect or further the drug distribution. Therefore there is no independent reason to punish the possession of the firearm separately for its inherent danger, when that danger is only linked to its use in the distribution of narcotics.

And, she added, there is Scott's family to consider, especially his young son:

Mr. Scott has, once again, made choices that will put his life on hold. His son ... who just started school, is old enough now to ask where he is and question why his father is not present in their home the way he once was. Mr. Scott and his partner ... have a warm and loving co-parenting relationship, yet [the son] feels his father's absence acutely. Mr. Scott has always been committed that his son would grow up with a father who was not disrespectful towards his mother and did not bring addiction into the household. He has upheld much of that promise, but his absence has made bonding with [his son] and being present for the little parts of day to day life, like the first day of school, impossible.