Lynn laborer pleads guilty to drug charges

SALEM – A Lynn laborer pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of an illegal firearm and cocaine in 2008.Steeven Charles, 27, of 51 Arlington St., Lynn, was scheduled to go on trial in Salem Superior Court, but opted instead to negotiate a plea agreement with the prosecutor.He pleaded guilty before Judge Timothy Q. Feeley to carrying a firearm without a license, illegal possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm, trafficking over 14 grams of cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm having one prior drug conviction.At the request of defense lawyer John Apruzzese, sentencing was postponed until next Monday, Nov. 14, so Charles may have time to visit with his family.Charles is expected to receive five to eight years in state prison followed by five years of probation.On the night of Feb. 8, 2008, around 9 p.m., officers assigned to the Lynn Police Gang Unit were on patrol on Tremont Street in an unmarked vehicle when they observed a Dodge Durango with defective equipment driven by a person who they believed didn’t have a license to drive.Lynn Police officers Stephen Withrow and Oren Wright activated their lights and pulled the vehicle over on South Elm Street. They found a loaded .25 caliber Raven loaded semi-automatic handgun with ammunition in the vehicle and 24.4 grams of cocaine were found on Charles.