No bail for Lynn man in drug case

LYNN – A judge ordered a city man held without bail on prior charges and set $50,000 cash bail – five times a prosecutor’s request – on new charges after police say they found the man with percocet and crack cocaine while officers investigated a reported shooting.”Which case? Mr. McMillan has quite a few cases,” Lynn District Court Judge Stacey Fortes said Monday when a prosecutor requested to revoke McMillan’s bail on an open case.Ali McMillan, 23, of 9 Moulton St. #1, was arrested and charged with possession of Class B drugs, two counts; violation of a city knife ordinance; and violation of a probation warrant; at 10:25 p.m. Sunday.A plea of not guilty was entered on McMillan’s behalf at his arraignment in Lynn District Court Monday.Police broadcast a “be on the lookout” for a white SUV at approximately 9:30 p.m. Sunday after an anonymous caller reported the vehicle had left the parking lot by Sullivans Liquors with two black men inside, one of whom had long braids and was carrying a gun, according to a report by Lynn Police Officer Stephen Withrow.Police then responded to a call of shots fired near 7 Liberty Square and reported noticing a white SUV parked in front of another liquor store a block away from the alleged shooting. (Police said Tuesday there was no report confirming the report of a shooting.)Officers said they followed the SUV as it drove up Newhall Street. As the SUV approached Broad Street, it pulled over and the front passenger jumped out, police reported.Police said they recognized the man as McMillan, who ducked down to the ground, then ran briefly before seeing multiple officers approaching.”As he raised his hands I saw a small object fall to the ground from his right hand,” Withrow reported.Police reported McMillan dropped a twist of crack cocaine and a percocet. A second percocet was found where McMillan ducked down after getting out of the car, police said.Inside the car, police reported finding an empty gun holster, a digital scale and a pill grinder in the glove compartment.McMillan also had a folding knife in his pocket, police reported.Essex Assistant District Attorney Danielle Doherty-Wirwicz requested $10,000 cash bail for the new charges. Doherty-Wirwicz also requested the judge revoke McMillan’s bail in an open Essex Superior Court drug case involving a charge of trafficking more than 28 grams of cocaine.Defense Attorney Todd Siegel requested McMillan be released.Siegel said police found no gun, nor could they connect him with any shooting. The only person who said McMillan had a gun was an anonymous caller, and regarding drugs, “police find nothing on McMillan, they find it on the ground,” Siegel said.He also said it made no sense that police reported seeing a man get into the front passenger seat of the car at the liquor store, but did not recognize that person as McMillan until he allegedly got out of the car near Broad Street”The drug task force sits in front of his house almost daily,” Siegel said. “Anytime anything goes on in the city they knock on his door.”He acknowledged McMillan’s six-page record but said McMillan had been on probation for eight months during which time he had not failed any drug tests and had gotten a job. He said the superior court case was reopened because it involved drugs analyzed by former state chemist Annie Dookhan, who has been charged with falsifying drug test results.Fortes set bail at $50,000 and revoked bail on the open case, ordering McMillan held without bail for 60 days. McMillan is scheduled to return to court Aug. 21.