Coke-peddling Peabody auto mechanic sentenced to seven years

SALEM – A Peabody auto mechanic caught peddling cocaine last year is headed to state prison for up to seven years after pleading to a reduced charge.Ernest Copoulos, 51, of 115 Lowell St., Apt. 10, Peabody was allowed to plead guilty Wednesday in Salem Superior Court to trafficking over 14 grams of cocaine as well as to a charge of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.He was sentenced to serve not less than four years and not more than seven years in state prison by Judge Timothy Feeley.The plea concession allowed Copoulos to confess to trafficking over 14 grams of cocaine. He had initially been charged with trafficking over 100 grams of cocaine, which carries a minimum mandatory punishment of 10 years behind bars.The judge agreed to adopt the joint recommended punishment asked by Assistant District Attorney Jean M. Curran and defense lawyer Sierra Rosen.Curran said she would have presented evidence during a trial that in January of 2008 a state police investigation began in Suffolk County which targeted Copoulos in which he was involved in a series of controlled drug sales.At about 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 8 state police stopped him in a black Ford pickup truck while driving on Route 95 in Newbury.Authorities seized 13.88 grams of cocaine from his person along with $773 in cash.Police then searched his home, with his consent, and confiscated just over 100 grams of cocaine along with $500 in cash.Copoulos acknowledged to authorities that the cocaine was his, that he was disabled and supporting himself through the sales of cocaine, Curran related to the judge.Copoulos agreed to forfeit the $1,273 in cash found by police to the state as part of the plea deal worked out.He will also lose his driving privileges in Massachusetts for five years because of the narcotic convictions.An Essex County grand jury indicted him in May of 2008 and he has been free on $1,000 cash bail since his arraignment.