May 13, 2025 – Springfield, Massachusetts – Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni announced the conviction and sentencing of Christopher Anderson, 37, of Wales. A Hampden County jury found Anderson guilty of multiple charges, including unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

On April 11, 2025,  the Court sentenced Anderson to three and a half to four years in state prison for unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (class A, fentanyl), unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (class A, heroin).  He was also sentenced to one year incarceration to run concurrently to that state prison sentence for the crimes of unlawful possession of a class B controlled substance (oxycodone) and unlawful possession of a class C controlled substance (diazepam).  

Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni stated, “This outcome reflects my office’s continued commitment to accountability for those who endanger public safety through the sale of deadly drugs. I commend the outstanding work of the Monson Police Department and Sergeant Adam Szymanski, whose diligence helped take a dangerous dealer off our streets and makes the Town of Monson a safer place. I also want to thank Assistant District Attorney Kerry Koehler and Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Simonian for their thorough and dedicated prosecution of this case.”

At approximately 9:24 p.m. on November 9, 2022, Sergeant Adam Szymanski was monitoring traffic on Wilbraham Road in Monson when he observed a Chevy Impala traveling at a rate of speed between 60 and 65 miles per hour within the posted 40 mile per hour zone. Szymanski was running stationary radar at the time, with the vehicle’s speed registering at 61 miles per hour, and no other vehicles were in the area.

The sergeant activated his blue emergency lights and activated a short burst of his siren, entering into traffic behind the sedan. The vehicle slowed but continued and was slow to stop. Szymanski observed movement from two individuals toward the center console that was not consistent with simple retrieval of paperwork. The driver eventually stopped the vehicle.

Szymanski approached the vehicle and explained the reason for the stop.  The driver of the Impala identified himself as Christopher Anderson, and noted the vehicle was registered to his mother. Anderson apologized for speeding, explained that he and his friend were traveling from the dispensary and showed the officer a kit commonly used to consume marijuana, containing a scale with cocaine residue on it and rolling papers. Upon checking Anderson’s credentials, the officer found Anderson was operating the vehicle under a suspended license.

Anderson was arrested for operating under suspension. Upon his exit from the vehicle, Szymanski noticed a billy club within the driver’s door pocket and then searched Anderson for further weapons. On Anderson’s person, the officer found a second scale typically used to weigh narcotics, which had a white powdery residue on its face, consistent with that of cocaine. He also located three full wax heroin bags, and one wax bag ripped open with a cut straw. Anderson’s other pant pocket had a blue flip-style cell phone, and in his sweatshirt pocket, $2,763 in cash.

As officers searched the vehicle further, they found several cut snorting straws with white residue, a small glass vile containing a white powdery residue later determined to be cocaine, two pocketknives, a third digital scale, 258 bags of Fentanyl, 7 grams of crack cocaine, 3 grams of powdered or ‘soft’ cocaine, five oxycodone pills, and one diazepam pill.

The Commonwealth was represented by Assistant District Attorney Kerry Koehler and Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Simonian.