Dispatches from the Drug Epidemic

Submitted by Briana I on Tue, 04/24/2012 - 4:25pm

Dispatches from the Drug Epidemic: Part 4

By Jeff McMenemy / The Daily Item
LYNN — Antonio Gutierrez [of Lynn Street Youth Outreach Advocacy (LYSOA)] once made $10,000-$15,000 a week selling cocaine in New York, before ending up homeless and living in a condemned bathroom in Dorchester.

In part four of a Daily Item series on the region's illegal drug trade, the 47-year-old father of nine talks about his life selling drugs, using drugs and finally finding redemption working with at-risk kids on the streets of Lynn.

The story will be published in Friday, April 27th print edition of The Daily Item.

 

Photo: Antonio Gutierrez, center, poses for a photo with his son, Antonio Gutierrez Jr., 5, left, and Antonio Jr.'s brother, Josue Quintanilla, 10, right, at a Lynn basketball court earlier this month. The drug-addict-turned-youth-coordinator shares his story in the Friday, April 27th edition of The Daily Item. (Item Photo / Angela Owens)