New Bedford Man Sentenced for Hiding Gun in Apartment’s Air Vents

NEW BEDFORD — A New Bedford man was convicted last week of hiding an illegal firearm in the air vents of a shared apartment building and has been sentenced to three years in state prison.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III says 28-year-old Daniel Brum pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court last week to indictments charging him with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.

“As a convicted felon, this defendant had no business possessing an illegal firearm. These unlawful weapons contribute to the violence that occurs in our cities all too often,” said District Attorney Quinn.

On February 12, 2016, New Bedford Police were dispatched to a Jouvette Street apartment after the tenants there, while cleaning the air vents in their floor, found two firearms.  The vent could be accessed from the both the first floor apartment and the basement but the guns could not be reached from the first floor access.

Responding officers entered into the basement storage area of Brum’s mother’s home to check the vent. The vent had a freshly installed piece of 2x4 inside of it to allow and block access to the firearms from the basement and create a concealed compartment.  The vent contained a .380 caliber Lorcin firearm, and a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson firearm.  The magazine removed from the Smith and Wesson had 12 .40 caliber rounds and the magazine removed from the Lorcin had three .380 rounds.  In addition there was a baggie containing six .380 special rounds in it, and another baggie containing a black Glock magazine with 15 rounds in it and eight loose .40 caliber rounds.

Police learned from the first floor tenants that the second floor tenant's son, Brum, used to visit the 2nd floor apartment and also used to spend a significant amount of time in the basement.  Further police investigation revealed that although Brum had been kicked out of the apartment by a member of his family, he still had a key to the apartment and the basement.

The guns were sent to the state lab to see if fingerprints could be recovered from any of the firearms or ammunition, and a print was located on the Smith and Wesson that matched the right middle fingerprint of Brum.

Brum was not charged with possessing the other gun, as no identifying characteristics were found on it during testing at the state lab.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Robert Digiantomaso and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Sharon Donatelle.  Upon his release from prison, Brum will also be placed on probation with GPS monitoring for six months.

During the past decade, Brum has been convicted of larceny, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, carrying an illegal firearm and malicious destruction of property.