United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BUFFALO, N.Y.– Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Enforcement Division Special Agent in Charge Farhana Islam and Northern District of New York U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Rodney Pierce, 38, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, was sentenced to serve 72 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. 

In February 2020, investigators with the Erie County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit identified Pierce as an individual who delivered cocaine for co-defendant David Burgin. Law enforcement then set up a controlled purchase of cocaine from Pierce, at which time he was arrested. A subsequent search of his vehicle resulted in the seizure of approximately 1,250 grams of cocaine. Investigators then searched a Grimes Street residence associated with the drug dealing activities, seizing four firearms and ammunition, approximately two kilograms of cocaine, approximately 45 grams of crack cocaine, approximately 17.5 pounds of marijuana, approximately 100 grams of fentanyl, approximately $260,000 in cash, and drug paraphernalia. 

David Burgin was previously convicted and sentenced.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Buffalo comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Department of Homeland Security Emergency Removal Operations, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy C. Lynch and Evan K. Glaberson. The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Erika Shields, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff John Garcia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Brendan Dunford, the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Farhana Islam, New York Enforcement Division, and Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Anthony Patrone.