Malden man arrested on charges of conspiracy to traffic drugs, carrying firearms

A 22-year-old Malden man was arrested and charged Monday for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy, the U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts announced.

Phillips Charles allegedly held over 150 grams of cocaine base and, along with other members of the conspiracy, had multiple guns with “selector switches” that converted them into machine guns. The statement from the U.S. attorney’s office said Charles can be seen holding a gun in an August 2020 music video that was posted on YouTube.

Charles is charged with criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and one count of conspiracy to carry firearms to help advance drug trafficking. He was on pretrial release and a probation sentence when he was arrested. He was previously charged with possessing a firearm in December.

Charles is in state custody and will appear in federal court at a later date. The drug trafficking charge could lead to 20 years in prison, three years to life of supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of using firearms to further drug trafficking could add up to life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

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