Around New England

‘Pill Cosby’ Drug Dealer Who Taunted Police Gets 18 Months

March 10, 2018

A drug dealer who once left home wearing a T-shirt showing a boy urinating on the logo of a high-crime-area police unit in Springfield, Massachusetts was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Prosecutors wanted 42 months in jail for Jason C. Santiago, 30, who bragged on Facebook about his exploits and posted photos of undercover police officers and their vehicles, according to MassLive.com.

The aspiring hip hop artist sold cocaine mixed with fentanyl. He performed his music for a label called Bottom of the Barrel Records.

At one point he wrote online:  “Dear Springfield Police Department – Stop Tryna CATCH ME. Y’all Too SLOW!”

Cops finally caught up to him at the hospital where his girlfriend was giving birth to their baby, but he fled, leading hospital officials to put the birthing wing on lockdown until police grabbed him, according to MassLive.com.

Santiago had previously led police on high-speed chases through Springfield neighborhoods, prosecutors said.

Police say he used nine aliases, including Ace, Sincere, and Pill Cosby, according to MassLive.com.

Santiago pleaded guilty to six charges. The judge, Robert Santaniello, said the drug dealer avoided violence, which he said justified not going with the prosecution’s recommendation of three and a half years in jail.

“But you were doing something just as bad as violence — you were selling fentanyl, a lethal drug,” the judge said, according to MassLive.com. “You preyed on these people. You’re lucky you are not looking at a manslaughter charge.”

Santiago’s lawyer said the mother of his child was in the courtroom.

“You have some bright things in your future,” the judge told Santiago.