Four in Greenfield cocaine trafficking ring start prison sentences

Published: 06-20-2023 4:38 PM

GREENFIELD — Four of the men connected to a cocaine trafficking syndicate that partially operated out of a Greenfield barbershop officially started their prison sentences Tuesday morning.

Brothers Daniel Rice Jr., 40, and Brandon Rice, 37, as well as Jason Byrd, 43, reported to Franklin County Superior Court to be taken into custody and transported to the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, where they will each serve five to eight years.

Jason Nadeau, 42, was also sentenced on Tuesday but did not appear in court as he was already incarcerated, unable to post his $300,000 cash bail. He was sentenced to six to nine years after pleading guilty earlier this month to two amended counts of trafficking in cocaine, 36 to 100 grams, and one count of conspiracy to violate drug laws. He has days of credit stretching to Dec. 4, 2021, when he was arrested.

In April, Brandon Rice pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate drug laws and an amended charge of trafficking in cocaine, 36 to 100 grams, as did Daniel Rice Jr., who also pleaded guilty to a single count of money laundering. The brothers each earned 110 days of credit for time served after they were arrested and before they posted bail. Byrd pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to violate drug laws.

The three were granted stays to their sentences to get their affairs in order.

According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, police broke up the cocaine trafficking operation in December 2021 after a seven-month investigation involving at least a dozen law enforcement agencies. Daniel Rice Jr. owned and operated Dapper Dan’s Barbershop on Chapman Street in Greenfield, a location that served as part of the operation. The barbershop business no longer exists.

Byrd was described by the prosecution as a mid-level operative in the cocaine trafficking syndicate. Nadeau would regularly supply Rice with cocaine to distribute when Rice was low on the drug.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Webber prosecuted all the cases related to the cocaine trafficking operation. Daniel Rice Jr. was represented by Luke Ryan, while Brandon Rice’s attorney was Paul Rudof. Byrd was represented by Alfred P. Chamberland and Nadeau was represented by Daniel Kelly.

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