Man charged with dealing drugs out of now closed Boylston Street bar gets nine years on gun-possession charge

A national justice contiguous sentenced Rahshjeem "Six Nine" Benson, 39, to 9 years successful situation for the national complaint of being a felon successful possession of a firearm aft helium was arrested by Boston Police for dealing drugs retired of Whskey's, 885 Boylston St. successful the Back Bay, the US Attorney's bureau reports.

According to tribunal documents, Benson, who already had a agelong grounds of violence, cause dealing and larceny, had a loaded weapon connected him erstwhile helium was arrested astatine Whiskey's connected April 5, 2019, pursuing a controlled bargain by a section cause idiosyncratic convinced that an undercover bull truly wanted to bargain immoderate crack. Whiskey's was 1 of a enactment of Boylston Street bars that closed successful the aboriginal days of the pandemic successful 2020.

It's against national instrumentality for radical convicted of felonies to person guns. After helium was indicted connected the national charges, the Suffolk County District Attorney's bureau dropped the authorities drugs and firearms charges to marque it easier for the national prosecution to continue.

Detectives had been investigating Benson for cause dealing successful the Copley Square country for respective months. Benson obtained the weapon not agelong aft it had been stolen successful New Hampshire, astir 3 weeks earlier his arrest. According to prosecutors, Benson had been trying for respective months to bargain a weapon to support himself and his cause trade, aft he'd been changeable astatine determination connected Mass. Ave. connected Oct. 9, 2018.

Federal prosecutors had asked for a ten-year sentence, arguing that Benson conscionable hadn't learned from earlier convictions, for everything from stealing a harmless belonging to his relative containing $20,000 successful currency and jewelry to choking and punching a friends woman to selling crack.

After serving his condemnation pursuing his 2008 ace conviction, according to a prosecution sentencing memo, helium seemed to person yet turned a country - helium went to college, met with past Gov. Patrick's unit and got profiled by WBUR - successful an interrogation successful which helium said helium didn't bash drugs himself, but was addicted to money.

But by 2014, helium was backmost to his transgression ways, stealing iPhones from the Apple store wherever helium worked and getting convicted for the guns constabulary recovered successful his apartment. In 2019, according to the memo, "he was convicted of conspiracy to perpetrate slope fraud and aggravated individuality theft, and aiding and abetting slope fraud, individuality theft, and slope fraud, successful a strategy successful which the conspirators would use for loans successful stolen identities utilizing fraudulent documentation, yet obtaining $123,292.11."

His lawyer argued for a condemnation of a small implicit 7 years, arguing that Benson was the merchandise of a breached location - his parent was conscionable 14, helium ne'er met his begetter until helium was good into adulthood - that his assemblage vocation showed him to beryllium a person and that helium has a lukewarm and loving narration with his ain children.

He has dedicated overmuch of his beingness to helping others and raising his children. He is motivated to determination forward, larn from his experiences, and ne'er cease trying to go a amended relation exemplary for his children. He understands that immoderate missteps could outgo him his narration with his children and that thought pushes Mr. Benson to permission the transgression justness strategy acold down him.

Prosecutors agreed Benson has the capableness to alteration for the bully and that a agelong condemnation would harm his narration with his children, but says Benson has had akin chances to alteration successful the past.

The authorities notes that, adjacent aft serving this sentence, Benson volition beryllium successful the premier of his beingness with the accidental to unrecorded a law-abiding beingness and beryllium contiguous for astir of his children’s teenage years. Just 8-16 recognition hours shy of a bachelor’s degree, and with the capableness for knowing demonstrated successful his WBUR interview, Benson intelligibly has the quality to instrumentality a caller way aft completing his sentence.