Five-year prison term for Mass and Cass dealer

BOSTON, August 18, 2025 – A Dorchester man was sentenced to five years in prison today after pleading guilty to drug and gun charges stemming from a 2023 arrest at the Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard section of Boston, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

JOEL TEIXEIRA-FERMINO, 42, pleaded guilty to distribution of a Class A substance, trafficking a Class B substance 18-36 grams, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony and being an armed career criminal. Judge James Lang sentenced Teixeira-Fermino to five years to five years and a day in prison followed by three years of probation.

At about 2 p.m. on March 24, 2023, members of the Boston Police Area B-2 Drug Control Unit conducting surveillance in the Mass and Cass area saw numerous individuals engage in quick transactions with a man, later identified as Teixeira-Fermino, wearing a black mask and a black hoodie sweatshirt with a white Jordan logo. The transactions took place on Atkinson Street, a location of many prior arrests involving drugs and violence. Officers stopped several of the individuals involved in the transaction and the individuals confirmed they purchased drugs, including fentanyl and crack cocaine, from Teixeira-Fermino.

Officers then approached Teixeira-Fermino. A body frisk yielded a black 9mm Diamondback firearm with one round in the chamber and five in the magazine, a plastic bag containing 37 grams of crack cocaine, a can of Mace and $227 in cash.

When officers told Teixeira-Fermino he was being charged with drug and gun charges he said “I should have put it in your mouth and pulled the trigger.” He also spit in the direction of officers.

Teixeira-Fermino has several convictions on his record and was sentenced in 2000 to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape and home invasion.

“Our approach at Mass and Cass is a combination of holding repeat offenders and impact players like this defendant accountable for their offenses while getting low-level offenders the treatment and services they need to get them off the streets and out of the surrounding neighborhoods. We are very aware of what’s happening in the area and we’re working with all of our partners, every day, to address it,” Hayden said.

All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. Our office handles more than 20,000 cases a year. Nearly 160 assistant district attorneys practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Boston and Chelsea Juvenile Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court. Our office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs for anyone encountering the criminal justice system. We are committed to educating the public about our mission and services while focusing on crime prevention to keep the residents, workers and visitors of Suffolk County safe.

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications