A youth baseball coach at the Boston Athletic Academy in Hyde Park pleaded not guilty to a drug trafficking charge at his arraignment in Roxbury Municipal Court on Tuesday, according to court records.
Bryan Mejia, 31, of Mattapan, was arrested earlier that day for allegedly selling fentanyl — a powerful and deadly synthetic opioid — to an undercover Boston police officer on Oct. 19, according to police records.
Police identified Mejia as a “runner” with an unnamed drug trafficking organization. He was charged with trafficking fentanyl over 10 grams, a felony that carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years in Massachusetts.
Mejia was released on personal recognizance at his arraignment. Prosecutors had asked that he be held on $5,000 bail. He is due back in court on Dec. 1 for bail and appointment of counsel, Tina Nguyen, a spokesperson for Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office, said by email on Wednesday.
Before he began coaching youth at the Boston Athletic Academy, a charitable organization that educates and trains underprivileged student-athletes, Mejia played professional baseball in the Minor League.
He could not be reached for comment on Wednesday night.
Jose Diaz, president of the Boston Athletic Academy, said in a statement Thursday that the organization was “shocked to learn” that Mejia “was charged with these allegations, and if true he should be punished with the full extent of the law,” adding that “these alleged actions have no place here in our community.”
“We know of no involvement of the Academy nor use of the grounds for any of these actions,” Diaz added. “Mejia has been immediately suspended without pay, subject to the investigation.”
Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her @shannonlarson98.