United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Genesis Tolentino-Cruz, 29, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin, was sentenced to serve 120 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti, who handled the case, stated that on February 27, 2019, Buffalo Police Officers responded to a drug overdose call and found a 24-year-old male deceased. The deceased man’s girlfriend told officers that the day before, she met Cruz, and co-defendant Orlando Albert-Arroyo, at a gas station in Cheektowaga to purchase heroin. Later that night, the girlfriend said that she and the deceased male used some of the heroin purchased from the defendants. The girlfriend went to sleep, and when she awoke, she found her boyfriend was deceased. In March and April 2019, investigators conducted six controlled purchases of heroin from Cruz and Arroyo. On April 19, 2019, a federal search warrant was executed at Cruz and Arroyo’s residence, during which heroin, ammunition, a rifle, a pistol, and drug processing items were seized. 

Orlando Albert-Arroyo was previously convicted and scheduled to be sentenced on March 2, 2023.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III, New York Division, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, and the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief Brian Gould.