Alleged Heath Street gang member already facing state gun charges in four cases now faces federal charge based in part on his Snapchat posts

An alleged Heath Street gang member whom ATF agents say they captured on Snapchat waving guns around and exhaling marijuana smoke now faces a federal charge of being a drug user in possession of a firearm and ammunition, the US Attorney's office reports.

Although marijuana is no longer illegal to smoke under state law, it is under federal law. The federal charge, filed against Dumari Shakur Scarlett-Dixon, 20, last month, is on top of charges he already faces in three different local courts for unlawful possession of a firearm, in a 2018 case in Suffolk County juvenile court, cases in 2019 and March, 2021 in Roxbury District Court and a case in February, 2021 in Dorchester District Court, according to an affidavit by an ATF agent who worked on his case.

As a condition for release on all the state charges, Scarlett-Dixon was required to move away from the Heath Street area and in with his grandmother in Weymouth, where he was arrested Nov. 30, after an investigation in which ATF agents monitored his Snapchat feed, on which they say he posted videos of himself posing with and shaking semi-automatic guns, as well as "numerous videos of himself smoking what appears to be marijuana."

Armed with a search warrant, the affidavit continues, agents raided his grandmother's home on Sept. 24, after first stopping Scarlett-Dixon when he drove away from the house that day:

Agents proceeded to the residence, where they were met by SCARLETT-DIXON's grandmother and several small children. SCARLETT-DIXON advised agents that his belongings were all in his room and that he had a gun under his pillow and ammunition in his safe. From SCARLETT-DIXON's bedroom, agents seized a Bersa 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol containing 14 rounds of 9 millimeter ammunition in a high capacity ammunition clip under a pillow on SCARLETT-DIXON's bed. From the closet in his room, agents also seized eight loose rounds of a 9 millimeter ammunition. From the safe in the closet, agents seized 27 rounds of 9 millimeter ammunition and 10 rounds of .380 caliber ammunition. Agents observed several marijuana blunts scattered throughout the room. ...

A search of SCARLETT-DIXON's cellular telephone revealed numerous posts depicting photos of him in possession of firearms and ammunition as well as photos/text messages indicating his use and distribution of marijuana. Finally, internet searches conducted on SCARLETT-DIXON's cellular telephone showed that SCARLETT-DIXON regularly searched for information about firearms, including searches for "Tactical Green Laser Light Combo Led Pistol Gun Rechargeable Battery," "High Capacity Magazines," and "Ruger ec9s laser light combo," and reviewed press releases for firearm and drug trafficking-related arrests, including "Man Sentenced to Prison in Fall River Court After Robbing Drug Dealer at Gunpoint" and "Police Arrest Four Teens, Including 15-Year Old Boy With Loaded Gun, After Pursuit in South Boston."

At a hearing yesterday, a US District Court magistrate judge ordered Scarlett-Dixon held pending a hearing on Dec. 21.