Pawtucket Man Sentenced for Selling Gun, Cocaine to Out-of-State Undercover Police Officer

Pawtucket Man Sentenced for Selling Gun, Cocaine to Out-of-State Undercover Police Officer

A Pawtucket man has been sentenced one year and a day in prison for selling a gun and crack cocaine to an out-of-state undercover law enforcement officer, U.S. Attorney Aaron Weisman announced.

Gary Pagnozzi, 60, was sentenced on Thursday to one year and one day in federal prison, to be followed by three years supervised release, the first six months to be served at the Neil J. Houston Jr. House.

The sentencing comes after Pagnozzi pleaded guilty on June 25, 2019.

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The Incident

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Pagnozzi admitted to selling a .44 caliber revolver and 3.5 grams of crack cocaine to the undercover law enforcement officer on April 5, 2018, the same day he retrieved the gun from the residence of an inmate incarcerated at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI).

The inmate, 24-year-old Ricardo Dominquez, called Pagnozzi from inside the ACI and asked him to retrieve and sell the firearm.

That same day, Pagnozzi arranged to sell the firearm to a person he knew to be a Massachusetts resident.

Pagnozzi arranged to meet the person, an undercover law enforcement officer, in Massachusetts where he sold him the firearm for $500 and 3.5 grams of crack cocaine for $200.

According to the U.S. Attorney, Dominquez, who was released from the ACI on April 11, 2018, contacted the out-of-state law enforcement officer and offered to sell him crack cocaine.

Dominquez, arrested on May 22, 2019, for twice selling crack cocaine to the law enforcement officer, pleaded guilty in federal court on April 19, 2019, to two counts of distribution of cocaine base.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith on September 23, 2019.