The man arrested earlier this year for three armed robberies in the North End, including Bob’s Grocery, has been indicted in federal court by a grand jury and could now face a life sentence in prison.
The federal court action follows up on the May 31, 2019 arrest of Dante Mirabella, 52, by Boston Police near Copps Hill Terrace in connection with three armed robberies, all of which described the suspect using a handgun and demanding cash. Mirabella was charged with the following:
- One count of interfering with commerce by robbery.
- One count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
- One count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
In U.S. Attorney’s Office explained the penalties it is seeking with these charges from the federal grand jury indictment.
- The charging statute for interfering with commerce by robbery provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
- The charge of brandishing a firearm during a violent crime provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed, up to five years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000.
- The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
In the arrest, police said that Mirabella held up Bob’s Grocery with a semi-automatic gun, loaded with seven bullets, and demanded cash. He was taken into custody near Copp’s Hill Terrace when officers spotted him taking part in multiple drug deals on Salem Street.
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
By bringing Federal charges it shows their really playing hardball with this guy . With the feds the sentancing guidelines are much tougher and their conviction rates are extremely high.
Can’t depend on the local “benevolence” that kept guys like Whitie Bulger on the street for most of his life.
Dante is not a whitey burger,, he has the discease of addiction,, whitey burger was not even considered local,,
Dante has the discease called addiction,, yes he was wrong what he did but also that wasn’t Dante ,,might of been Dante physically but mentally Dante needed a fix,, addiction is a horrible dishes and right away people will say it’s a self inflicted one,,they did it to themselves, no ,, my daughter got in a car accident and was prescribed Peres,, she loved the way she felt on them got addicted to them and from there it was a long spiral, she became a stranger to me because of the drug addiction and as many times I tried to help her it didn’t work,, Dante needs to be put in a rehab and have mental help,, yes he deserves to be in jail for his crimes but you have to understand he was under the influence of drugs, There’s a receptor in the brain with drug addicts that they need that fix,, before everyone starts bashing him,, say a prayer for him,, that he gets well,, andremember his family going through this,,don’t write nasty stuff they have been through enough
Clearly he’s not in the same category as WB. He’s looking for cash to get high. Yes he belongs in jail but maybe bridgewater? Addiction has its own mind and in the thick of it you are so afraid you won’t get the next high. Until you’re totally surrendered to the notion you are powerless and need help nothing will change
Sorry for your troubles floey’s mom, but commission of crime using a gun means you are looking at serious time. Given recent events involving guns, even the most liberal judge isn’t going to go easy.
Mobile I understand that I thank god that my floey never hurt anyone ,,or killed anyone for money to support her habit,, what I’m emphasizing is that if Dante wasn’t on drugs he would of never did what he did,,the drugs turn you into another person,,thefamily who has a addict feels bad enough that thier member is addicted and believe me has probally tried to help,, so when someone says a horrible thing about Dante the family reads and feels horrible enough,,j I’m just trying to take the family members into consideration,,because believe me they are hurting
Addiction is not an excuse but when addicted you are not in your right state of mind. The addiction takes over your mind and body causing you to do things you would not normally do. I pray this young man can be rehabilitated, return to society and enjoy his life
KRM , your drinking the Kool aid. In a court of law the definition of competency (like the insanity defense) is based on the question did the person charged know the difference of right and wrong? Addiction does NOT make a person do something that they ordinarily would not do. A person who attempts to disguise themselves and plans criminal acts show a thought process. They know exactly what their doing. Some of your sympathy and compassion should be directed to the victims and what they are going through after a tramatic experience of being terrorized because someone needs some cash to get high . You need to learn who the true victims are.
Actually this guy is not young and if you look at the charges he was already a felon. How many strikes that he has now, they didn’t say. But this is not his first offense. Do you know how many chances he’s had already? Could be worse however. He was pointing a gun at each robbery. It was only a matter of time before he killed someone. Imagine you were trying to convey this to a dead victim’s family.
Addiction is and has been a problem in our society for decades and it’s getting worse.The reason the problem is getting worse is because the city and state are impotent and clueless about what to do about it. The ” war on drugs” has been a total failure and joke. With that being said addiction is not an excuse to terrorize people by sticking a semi automatic weapon in someone’s face to to them. As for Bulger he was
more local than you think.He had a “garage” on Lancaster St.and I saw him and his fellow FBI informant Stevie Flemmi visit the ” boys ” at the ” Office” on Prince St many times .
When society shuns you and makes it impossible to make a living after a first offense, then you have been diagnosed with a mental illness (bi-polar) and you have been driven to addiction by all that life has dealt you you tend to lose family and friends. When life leaves no options and you have all those other things happening, you become hopeless and need to survive. If anyone on here actually knows Dante they would know he would NEVER hurt anyone. Needing to survive and living with mental illness can make people do things that they would never do.
You are right you become desperate and will try anything to survive. (I watched my brother go through this. Unfortunately, coping with people’s nattiness became too much and he took his own life.) I’m beginning to believe rather than lock people up for minor offenses an attempt should be made to rehabilitate them and give them a chance to live a good life.
Bi polar is a treatable disease . There are millions of people who suffer from it.The key of course is therapy and medication The same can be said for drug addiction no one is driven to drug addiction. A person who is addicted first has to admit they have a problem , than seek help. It’s not easy but plenty of people have turned their lives around after getting help. I do agree that people using drugs will do things that they never would do. And that included sticking a gun in someone’s face to feed their habit and a person that is capable of doing that would certainly hurt someone or worse.
Yes, but how about when you layer on constant rejection for employment even though you have the skills and value to help? Society’s rejections, without help from anyone plus the other elements that you mentioned, above, combine for a very nasty and lonely existence and could drive anyone to confusion while trying to survive. He’s never hurt anyone in his life. He has no violent background. I understand that the optics may convince you otherwise, but he’s never pulled the trigger against another human being in his whole life. He doesn’t have a record of bar fights, in his whole life. He’s had a long life without any violence involved in it. So, the optics of gun can be easily misconstrued, but it was a vehicle to get what he needed. If someone was a violent person against society, he had the perfect opportunity to use it, yet he did not. I would say that he was so careless and lacked attention to detail, while also giving up and “confessing” (as the media reports stated) that he was relieved to be done with all of that. And I would also think that he was happy that no one got hurt.
But, if you are going to look at Dante’s situation through the right lens, then see it as this layered complicated concoction and not at the surface. Because it’s not only complex, but also very scary if you are going through it, without acceptance or support. “A day in someone else’s shoes…”, they say.
Amen to that also we should all learn to BE KIND! For everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. (Toby Mac)
Does anyone know Dante’s status? It has been awhile since any news reported on this.