BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced yesterday in connection with his involvement in the violent Boston-based street gang, NOB.
Michael Brandao, a/k/a “G Fredo,” and “Frizzblock Fredo,” 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to nine years in prison and three years of supervised release. In April 2022, Brandao pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Brandao is one of 10 defendants indicted together in June 2020 as part of a broader federal sweep targeting numerous NOB street gang members and associates in which 31 total defendants were charged. All of Brandao’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty to various charges and are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months.
According to court documents, NOB – an abbreviation for the Norton/Olney/Barry streets Dorchester – is a violent criminal enterprise whose members and associates are involved in numerous types of criminal activities, including murders, attempted murders, armed robberies, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and illegal firearms offenses. During the investigation, numerous contraband items were seized, including 11 firearms, over one kilogram of fentanyl (including over 2,000 fentanyl pills manufactured to appear as commercial oxycodone pills), a commercial pill press, over 15 pounds of marijuana, and approximately $36,000 in cash.
Brandao was an active and violent member of the NOB gang who personally committed and supported multiple violent crimes on behalf of the gang. The Court determined that Brandao was responsible for attempted murder and took it into consideration at sentencing.
Specifically, in November 2018, an individual was shot multiple times with a .40 caliber pistol in broad daylight near their residence in New Bedford; this individual survived their injuries. Additionally, according to court documents, Brandao actively facilitated, promoted and furthered the criminal activities committed by the NOB gang in various ways, including. by publishing recordings and videos boasting about violence he and the NOB gang committed, bragging about his personal participation in gang violence, threatening rival gangs and intimidating witnesses.
