Thursday, April 27, 2000 Man faces charges for alleged drug dealing in
Winchester
By DAN SHOHL STAFF WRITER
An Arlington resident and former
part-time employee of Arlington Housing Authority faces two felony
charges stemming from alleged cocaine dealing in Winchester. Keith
Supprise, 32, face two charges stemming from alleged drug-dealing in
Winchester. In an affidavit filed with a search-warrant application at
Cambridge District Court, Winchester police described the events that
led to Supprise's arrest. A tip-off set the investigation in motion.
"Information was developed through a confidential and reliable source
that Keith Supprise was distributing cocaine," wrote Inspector James
Gray of the Winchester police.
Officers from Winchester and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration then began an undercover
surveillance and drug-buying operation, according to the documents.
Gray described four separate meetings with Supprise during the month
of March. On March 1, working undercover, Gray met with Supprise at an
undisclosed location in Winchester, where the officer reportedly
bought half an ounce of cocaine for $500. A week later, Gray and
Supprise met at St. Eulalia's Church in Winchester, where the
detective said he gave Supprise $2,000 and received two ounces of
cocaine. The two met again, this time at a Burger King on Main Street
in Winchester, on March 15, where Gray stated that he bought two more
ounces of cocaine and stated that Supprise advised him how to best
prepare it for sale. "Supprise told me that the cocaine could be
[diluted] five or six times before I sold it and that he had a 'stash'
in his house," stated Gray.
It was at the same Burger King that police
arrested Supprise on March 21, after Gray had set up another meeting
to buy. On the day of the arrest, Arlington and Winchester police
searched Supprise's home at 311 Ridge St. According to the inventory
of the search filed with the court, they retrieved almost $73,000 in
cash, five guns with 16 boxes of ammunition and a license to carry
firearms, and drug paraphernalia, including an electric grinder and an
electronic scale. Gray also described retrieving "compressed white
powder," later determined to be cocaine. According to Winchester Lt.
James Pierce, police recovered "more than three ounces" of cocaine
from Supprise's home.
According to Frank Hurd, Arlington Housing Authority's executive director, Supprise's job involved checking out
the AHA's vacant apartments before they were rented to new tenants. He
worked alone, three days a week, and he had been on the payroll for
roughly a year before his arrest. Supprise was fired from his job at
the AHA on March 23, said Hurd, once the arrest had come to the
agency's attention. Hurd said that the authority had no indication
that Supprise's alleged drug dealing coincided with his work for the
agency. "There's nothing that would lead me to believe that there was
anything of a Housing Authority issue in this matter," he said.
Fred Ryan, director of Arlington's police department, was asked Monday if
police believe Supprise was dealing cocaine in Arlington. He said he
could not comment. Ryan did suggest as much at the time of Supprise's
arrest, though, when he said, "It's apparent to all the
law-enforcement officials involved that this [arrest] will have a
substantial impact on the availability of cocaine in Arlington."
Supprise faces a single count trafficking cocaine and a single charge
of a "drug violation near a school or park," according to the clerk's
office at Woburn District Court. After appearing in court, Supprise
was freed after posting a $1,500 bond. A pretrial conference on the
charges was scheduled for Wednesday, after the Star's deadline.
Supprise does not have a listed phone number. Stoneham attorney Mario
Patalano, representing Supprise in court this week, could not be
reached Tuesday or Wednesday.