SALEM – A Boston man, facing a 10-year-mandatory state prison term for peddling OxyContin, will have to come up with $50,000 cash bail in order to get out of the Middleton Jail before his trial.Rafael Gomez, 32, of 130 Summer St., East Boston, appeared Friday afternoon in Salem Superior Court and pleaded innocent to trafficking more than 100 grams of Opium.As jointly recommended by the prosecutor and defense lawyer, Judge John T. Lu set the high bail and continued the case to Nov. 16 for a pre-trial conference.Assistant District Attorney James P. Gubitose said the charge stems from his arrest in Lynn in July.According to reports, police received an anonymous tip concerning a man who was illegally selling OxyContin pills purchased in New York.On the night of July 15, police stopped a green Toyota Camry on Boston Street and seized more than 700 tablets of OxyContin concealed inside a secret compartment on the instrument panel.Gomez, who was a passenger in the vehicle, had $890 in cash on his person.Authorities claim the nearly 200 grams of OxyContin is worth $50,000 on the streets.The driver, Adriano Almonte, 31, of Lynn, was also arrested and charged. He is expected to be arraigned within a week.A conviction on the charge carries minimum mandatory 10-year prison term.
