Jury Convicts Providence Man Of Weapons Offense

PROVIDENCE, RI — Jhonmar Roman, 25, of Providence, had already admitted he took drugs to Newport's Bayside Village. He also admitted he had a gun, although he is a convicted felon. But Roman pleaded innocent to another weapons charge. That case went to trial. On Thursday, a Providence federal court jury found him guilty of "possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime," the U.S Attorney's Office said. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 23.

"Previously in this case, Roman, a convicted felon, admitted to the Court that he trafficked fentanyl and cocaine, and, at the time of his arrest, was a felon in possession of a firearm," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. But although police found the gun in his house, he denied he used it in connection to drug trafficking.

Newport Police originally arrested him after receiving a tip he was carrying 10 grams of heroin to Bayside Village in Newport. They stopped his car, and seized drugs he told them he'd stashed in his underwear.

Roman gave detectives permission to search his apartment. The heroin which he'd admitted to stashing turned out to be fentanyl, police said. Newport detectives found "about 31 grams of fentanyl, 20 grams of cocaine, cutting agents, $1,400 in cash, and several items used in the packaging and distribution of illegal narcotics," police said. "About 10 feet away from the drugs, next to Roman’s bed on top of a stack of shoeboxes, detectives located a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun."

Roman pleaded guilty to all the trafficking charges (possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute cocaine) and to one weapons charge (felon in possession of a firearm) on May 2.