United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Eleven defendants were arrested on a 30-count federal indictment that was unsealed today in federal court.  The indictment alleges a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy, drug possession and distribution crimes, and firearms offenses, announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon, Ray Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division, Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Chief Kenton Buckner, City of Syracuse Police Department.

All of the defendants below have appeared in federal court in Syracuse.  A number of them were previously arrested by complaint and have been ordered detained pending trial.  The remaining defendants all appeared in court today and were ordered held without bail pending detention hearings scheduled for next week. The indictment remains sealed as to one defendant who has not yet appeared in court.

As alleged in the indictment unsealed today, law enforcement officers from federal, state, and local agencies seized multiple kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, firearms, vehicles, and thousands of dollars in U.S. currency in an investigation stretching over many months. The defendants are all charged with conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, heroin and fentanyl, and face the following potential penalties for the crimes alleged in the indictment:

In addition to the drug trafficking offenses described above, defendants Jahdier Dowdell and Maurice Graves are additionally charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  The indictment contains forfeiture allegations for the seizure of $76,281.96 in U.S. Currency, as well as over $300,000.00 of unrecovered drug proceeds gained by members of the alleged conspiracy.

A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors. The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the DEA Syracuse Resident Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Syracuse Police Department, Gang Violence Task Force and Special Investigations Division, the New York State Police, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-ICE (Detention and Removal), the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Auburn Police Department, and the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Commandeur.