PROVIDENCE, RI - A Providence man, one of twenty-six individuals arrested during an eighteen month Project Safe Neighborhoods investigation into firearms and drug trafficking in and around Providence in 2017 and 2018, was sentenced on Thursday to twenty-four months in federal prison.
Emmanuel Miamen, 25, was arrested in September 2018 by members of the FBI’s Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force after unlawfully selling two AR-47 assault rifles and two handguns, and offering to sell an individual a grenade launcher for $8,000.
Soon after Miamen’s arrest and arraignment in U.S. District Court in October 2018, he posted several threatening messages on social media directed at his indictment and a person who assisted the FBI in the investigation. He was re-arrested and charged with witness intimidation.
Miamen pleaded guilty on June 13, 2019, to conspiracy to traffic in firearms, trafficking in firearms, conspiracy and unlicensed dealing in firearms, and attempted witness tampering.
On Thursday, Miamen was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to twenty-four months imprisonment to be followed by three years’ supervised release, announced United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division Joseph R. Bonavolonta.
This Project Safe Neighborhoods case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Terrence P. Donnelly and Helen H. Lee, with the assistance of Assistant United States Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The FBI’s Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force consists of agents and law enforcement officers from the FBI, Rhode Island State Police, the Providence, Cranston, Woonsocket, Pawtucket, and Central Falls Police Departments, and the Rhode Island National Guard.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
