New Bedford Gym Owner Sentenced for Role in Heroin Distribution

BOSTON - A New Bedford gym owner and football coach has been sentenced for his role in a heroin distribution ring.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 39-year-old Sharik Mendes has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in October to a heroin distribution charge.

Mendes was arrested in June after a federal investigation into a drug trafficking operation in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.

Mendes owned the H.E.A.R.T. boxing gym in New Bedford, and also coached Pop Warner football in the city.