N. Adams Man Gets Up to 8 Years For Drug, Weapons Charges

The Berkshire Eagle  reports a North Adams man who was a target in a 2018 drug investigation was sentenced to up to eight years in prison Wednesday, after admitting to narcotics and weapons charges.

Tariq Westbrook, 22, appeared in Berkshire Superior Court before Judge John Agostini and pleaded guilty to seven charges, which stemmed from a March 13, 2018, raid of his home by members of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force.

According to Assistant Berkshire District Attorney Jedd L. Hall, Westbrook had been under investigation beginning in early 2018. That investigation, Hall said, was constructed through the use of confidential informants, surveillance video and controlled purchases of narcotics.

A search warrant for Westbrook's home was executed March 13 after police spotted Westbrook and his co-defendant, Jonathan Sprowson, pulling back into the driveway of their North Street home.

The subsequent search recovered nine bags of heroin, about 16 grams of crack cocaine, a loaded .38-caliber semi-automatic handgun, about $2,300 cash, a black powder rifle and apparent dealer paraphernalia, including baggies and a digital scale.

The handgun was reported stolen. A witness told police they had stolen the weapon about a month before the raid and had traded it to Westbrook for heroin.

Westbrook pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, being an armed career felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, illegal ownership of a firearm, possession of ammo without a firearms identification card and improper storage of a firearm.

He was given a six- to eight-year prison sentence to be served at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction. Westbrook will receive credit for 498 days of time served in custody.

Two charges of conspiracy were dropped by the state as part of the plea agreement reached between Hall and Westbrook's attorney, Dale Bass.

The case against Sprowson remains open. A plea hearing in that case has been set for Monday in Berkshire Superior Court.