Lynn man pleads innocent to gun charges

SALEM – A Lynn felon who is facing a mandatory three years in state prison, after allegedly being caught with a loaded .40 caliber Glock handgun on Broad Street last fall, remains free on $2,500 cash, despite prosecution efforts to have his bail increased.Modesto Cruz, 34, of 109 Broad St., #105, appeared Thursday morning for his arraignment in Salem Superior Court, pleading innocent to carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition and a charge of a felon in possession of a firearm before Judge Leila R. Kern.Assistant District Attorney John B. Brennan urged the judge to increase bail to $10,000, citing the suspect’s prior criminal record dating back to 1998, when Cruz was convicted of distribution of cocaine and heroin and served three years behind bars.Brennan also pointed out to Kern that because of the prior record, Cruz was facing a mandatory three-year prison term.He said the current charges lodged against Cruz stem from his arrest on Oct. 18 when Lynn Police Officers Ralph Sirois and Michael DiMelgio were on patrol and received information that a man was selling heroin from the back door of an apartment on Broad Street.They spotted Cruz in a hallway apartment on Broad Street. As they approached, officers said they smelled a strong odor of marijuana. When Cruz saw police he began to dart away up the stairs, but was quickly subdued following a struggle.Police found a loaded .40 caliber Glock firearm strapped to his body during a pat frisk, along with a knife and marijuana.Cruz reportedly told police that he had bought the firearm for $400 and was going to resell it to someone else for $600 and had been in the back hall waiting for the buyer.The weapon was later determined to have been stolen out of a vehicle in Danvers in November 2008, police reports said.