The TV show “Breaking Bad” has come to life in the Jamaica Plains neighborhood of Boston, as a 57-year-old academic tutor suffering from stage three cancer was arrested Wednesday for dealing methamphetamine.
Stephen Doran was charged with trafficking meth after receiving a package at Match Charter Middle School in Boston that allegedly contained two 280-gram heat-sealed freezer baggies with a white crystal-like substance that tested positive for methamphetamine.
The police also found 38 grams of crystal meth, $10,000 in cash, a digital scale and packaging material at his Dorchester, Mass. home.
He was arraigned Thursday morning in Roxbury District Court on a charge of trafficking Methamphetamine. While the prosecutor on the case asked the judge to set the bail at $500,000 dollars, Doran’s defense attorney, Vincent Murray, was able to get it lowered due to his failing health.
“His life on the line here, literally,” Murray told the court. “This a man being treated for stage three cancer at the Mass General Hospital.”
Doran’s bail was ultimately set at $10,000. If he makes bail, he will be ordered to wear a GPS monitoring anklet and remain on house arrest, outside of attending medical appointments, in advance of his June 24 court date.
The former Massachusetts state legislator and Bank of America vice president will also face charges on a second count of methamphetamine trafficking, for the meth found at his apartment, in Dorchester District Court at a later date. According to Roxbury District Attorney Spokesman Jake Wark, Doran could be looking at eight to 20 years in jail if convicted.
Match Charter Middle School has also severed its ties with Doran.
“We have no knowledge, nor any reason to believe, that any staff, teachers, or students are involved in this matter or in danger in any way,” Michael Larsson said in an e-mailed statement to Boston.com. “We are cooperating completely with the police investigation, and we are conducting our own internally.”
“We will share all appropriate information with our staff, students and families to assure them of the safety of our school,” he added.
John Miles, a neighbor of Mr. Doran, told ABC Boston that he was shocked and upset by the allegations against Doran, as he always considered him to be a quiet neighbor who never caused any problems.
“We certainly are amazed and disgusted that this sort of situation could affect us and bad enough that it would affect the children at the school,” another neighbor told ABC Boston.
This is not the first time Doran has had a run in with the law. Doran was arrested for driving under the influence in 1979 and for marijuana possession in 2001, however both cases were eventually dismissed.
