On Wednesday, March 13th, Michael Caropreso (DOB 11/27/1973) was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on the following charges:
- Trafficking in 36 Grams or More, Less than 100 Grams of Cocaine
- Carrying a Firearm Without a License
- Carrying a Loaded Firearm Without a License
- Possession of a Firearm Without an FID Card
- Possession of Ammunition Without an FID Card
- Possession of a Large Capacity Feeding Device
Honorable Judge Tyne set cash bail at $100,000. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for April 11th.
On March 12th, Pittsfield Police performed a routine traffic stop on a vehicle with the driver’s side headlight out. The vehicle was being used as an Uber. Police contacted the rear passenger who identified himself as Michael Caropreso. Mr. Caropreso has been the target of an ongoing investigation regarding large-scale drug trafficking.
Officers asked the Defendant to step out of the vehicle and observed multiple bags in the back seat that were determined to belong to Mr. Caropreso. The bags included plastic shopping bags and a black duffle bag.
A portion of a digital scale (used by drug dealers to weigh their product) could be seen sticking out of one of the bags and was taken into custody as evidence. An officer then conducted a pat frisk of the duffle bag. The officer felt a hard object that was suspected to be a handgun. Officers opened the compartment and discovered a 9mm handgun with a loaded magazine. The gun was later determined to be a ghost gun. Based on the results of the above searches, officers continued to search the contents of the bags.
In total officers recovered the following items:
- A 9mm handgun
- A 9mm Glock magazine (17 round capacity)
- Eight 9mm rounds
- Plastic bags containing approximately 39 grams of cocaine
- $602 in cash
- A digital scale with white powder residue
- 2 cellular devices
District Attorney Shugrue has pledged to prosecute large-scale drug distribution and possession of illegal firearms to the extent of the law.