Jones was held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Melvin Jones IIISPRINGFIELD – Melvin Jones III, who shot to local notoriety after being allegedly beaten by police during a traffic stop in 2009 on Rifle Street as an amateur videotape rolled, appeared in Hampden Superior Court on Thursday to answer cocaine trafficking, conspiracy and distribution charges.
He was held in lieu of $50,000 bail after denying the charges.
Jones was indicted Tuesday along with Alfred and Raheim Reid, brothers from Springfield, for drug charges linked to selling crack cocaine to an FBI informant in December.
It is yet another bump in the road for Jones, who acquired a following of civil rights protesters after the traffic stop, when he was apparently pummeled by a police officer with a flashlight and was subsequently arrested on drug charges.
The patrolman, retired officer Jeffrey M. Asher, who is white, argued Jones, who is black, made a grab for one of his colleague’s guns as they attempted to arrest Jones. Jones has denied going for the gun and testimony from previous court hearings indicates the officers were ultimately unclear about it.
Asher was fired from the police force one day after he received a disability retirement. He faces a criminal trial in connection with the incident, scheduled to begin in Chicopee District Court on Nov. 28.
Jones, 30, has compiled a complicated history with the court since the alleged beating – which his lawyer says left him permanently blind in one eye. Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni earlier this year dismissed drug charges against Jones that were linked to the 2009 traffic stop.
But in the meantime, Jones has been arrested for allegedly stealing 30 pairs of jeans from a J.C. Penney store in January and once again following a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. The bail granted in the then-pending drug case was revoked four months ago and he has remained behind bars since.
Before his arraignment in Superior Court Thursday morning, the domestic assault charges against him were dismissed in Springfield District Court and a judge set an Oct. 21 trial date for the shoplifting case.
The usual sign-holding individuals calling for justice in his case were not outside the courtroom, as has been their custom.
Assistant District Attorney James R. Goodhines said that Jones delivered crack cocaine on behalf of the Reid brothers on two occasions to an FBI informant.
Like the alleged beating, the alleged hand-to-hand sales were caught on videotape – the latter film was made by the FBI, however.
Defense lawyer Jared Olanoff said Jones was likely under surveillance because of the notoriety he had gained with police.
“These were the circumstances he was living with,” Olanoff said, declining to discuss the details of the case as he had not been provided with any police reports or the videotape.
Jones also has a federal lawsuit against the police department pending in U.S. District Court. U.S. Attorneys declined to bring the instant drug case against Jones and instead referred it to state court two weeks ago, according to Mastroianni.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for Sept. 26.