CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, NY – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Jamar Mills, 27, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremiah E. Lenihan, who is handling the case, stated that on July 7, 2021, at approximately 10:00 p.m., law enforcement officers encountered Mills in Salamanca, NY, and executed a search warrant of his vehicle and residence. Located in a bag Mills wore around his shoulder, officers found and seized a loaded .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, a digital scale, and a flip phone. After being transported to the police station, officers located a quantity of cocaine, which Mills attempted to swallow.
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 plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia, the Olean Police Department, under the direction of Chief Ron Richardson, the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force, under the direction of under the direction of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. DeVito.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 27, 2022, before Judge Skretny.
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