Admitted heroin dealer gets two years in prison

SALEM – A former Lynn man who admitted peddling heroin to a confidential informant in 2009 will spend two years in jail before being placed on probation for another year.Brian Mishel, 34, of 8 Cherry St., Danvers, formerly of Lynn, changed his plea of not guilty to guilty Thursday afternoon in Salem Superior Court to a charge of distribution of heroin before Judge Howard J. Whitehead.He was sentenced to a split term of 30-months in jail, with all but two years suspended and placed on a year of probation at which time he will be evaluated for substance abuse and treatment as deemed necessary with random screenings.The punishment, however, will not commence until Mishel completes a jail term he is currently serving on a larceny charge.The judge agreed to follow the recommended punishment proposed by Assistant District Attorney Christina P. Ronan and defense lawyer James L. Frederick.Mishel admitted selling just less than ten ounces of heroin to a confidential informant on Clarendon Street in Lynn on Aug. 20, 2009.The judge credit Mishel the 42-days he has spent in jail in lieu of bail awaiting trial on the case.Mishel was indicted on the case by an Essex County grand jury last November.