A local man was arrested in connection with an ongoing heroin investigation in Amherst on Saturday, Feb. 6.
At the time of his arrest, Jacob S. Kinney, 28, of 30 North Hadley Road, was found to be in possession of 40 bags of heroin, according to an Amherst Police Department press release.
The APD arrested Kinney for possession with intent to distribute a Class A substance. Kinney was also wanted on an outstanding Holyoke District Court warrant for possession of a Class B drug (cocaine), according to the release.
Police also seized an undisclosed sum of cash from Kinney at the time of his arrest, according to the release.
His arrest follows an investigation into the distribution of heroin in Amherst, according to the release. Ronald Young, an officer in charge of the APD detective bureau, said the investigation took place over a “period of weeks,” but could not elaborate, due to the fact that the investigation is ongoing.
“Amherst police conducted a thorough investigation into Mr. Kinney and it is a great example of the part that law enforcement can play in combating this epidemic,” said Jeremy Bucci, chief trial counsel of Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, in an email.
“While no one agency can shoulder the burden of fighting to curb this problem on its own we are proud of the commitment to this work that the Amherst Police Department has made.”
Kinney was arraigned Monday, Feb. 8 in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown. He posted cash bail of $1,000 the same day. His pretrial hearing is set for Mar. 7.
“For obvious reasons, we cannot speculate on the motive behind any unsolved crime(s),” said Bucci in the email. “It is accurate to point out that the majority of the more serious robberies and serial breaking and entering cases we have handled in Superior Court over the past 5 years in the Northwestern District have dealt with defendants who were, at least in part, trying to satisfy their craving for opiods including heroin.”
The APD is part of the Northwestern Anti-Crime Task Force, which has been involved in many area drug arrests, said Mary Carey, communications director of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, in an email.
The APD also has a permanent drug drop-off box in its lobby. It is one of 18 around the DA’s district, which includes Hampshire and Franklin counties and the town of Athol, she said in the email.
The boxes aim to keep drugs “out of the wrong hands and away from children,” she said in the email.
The 24 break-ins Amherst experienced last June and July may have been committed by individuals trying to satisfy their heroin addiction, the Collegian reported in September.
Amherst also experienced six armed robberies between Nov. 6 and Nov. 21, 2015.
On Feb. 1, Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, and Secretary of Public Safety and Security Dan Bennett announced the release of more than $2.5 million in federal grants to help sheriffs, district attorneys, and other criminal justice agencies strengthen their ongoing efforts to combat heroin and opioid abuse in Massachusetts, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The Hampshire County Sheriff’s Department’s will receive a grant of $120, 812, according to the release.
Patricia LeBoeuf can be reached at [email protected].
