Lynn man admits selling shotgun, will go to prison

SALEM – A Lynn father of two who admitted peddling a shotgun for $250 will spend three to five years behind bars before being placed on straight probation for another three years.Hector L. Velazquez, a factory worker, 25, of Park Street, Lynn, made his plea Thursday afternoon in Salem Superior Court confessing to charges of carrying a shotgun without a license and selling an unlicensed shotgun in his possession before Judge Timothy Q. Feeley.The judge agreed to adopt the joint recommendation proposed by Assistant District Attorney Christina P. Ronan and defense lawyer Julian Lebeck.In March of 2010 FBI agents and Lynn Drug Task Force members conducted an investigation known as “Melting Pot” into firearm sales in Lynn.In March they recruited a confidential informant who contacted Miguel Cabrera, 21, to arrange for the purchase of a shotgun, who arranged with Velazquez to sell the gun.On March 9, 2010 at about 1 p.m., Cabrera and the confidential informant drove to an apartment at 69 Park St., where they were met by a man nicknamed “Two Times,” later identified as Velazquez, who sold the shotgun for $250.Then the informant and Cabrera left the apartment carrying the shotgun wrapped in white cloth and drove away.Police had both audio and video recordings of the entire transaction.Velazquez was then taken into custody.Lebeck told Feeley that his client, the father of a son and daughter, “obviously made an egregious error,” as he asked the judge to adopt the joint recommendation.The judge credited Velazquez the 17 days he spent in jail in lieu of bail awaiting trial on the case.Cabrera pleaded to his role earlier this year and is currently serving a prison term.