Additional Defendant Charged In Cocaine Conspiracy

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051 

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging Robert Hall, 40, of Buffalo, NY, with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, and attempted possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. The charges carry mandatory minimum 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $10,000,000 fine. In addition, Clarence Adams, 34, of Buffalo, NY, who was previously charged by complaint in this case, was also indicted on the same two charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Adler, who is handling the case, stated that according to the previously filed complaint and superseding indictment, on May 13, 2016, law enforcement officers seized three packages containing suspected cocaine that were shipped from Texas to Buffalo. The cocaine was hidden inside air purifiers. Officers seized two of the packages before they were delivered and set up controlled deliveries to addresses on Tyler and Custer Streets in Buffalo.

The three packages contained a total of five kilograms of cocaine. Hall allegedly paid the intended recipients of the packages in crack cocaine.

During a subsequent search of a Mount Vernon Street residence where Adams lived, officers recovered a drug ledger that calculated the amount necessary to purchase 5 kilograms of cocaine from Adams’s bedroom. Also recovered were a digital scale and other drug preparation materials.

Adams and Hall were arraigned before U.S. magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy. Adams and Hall are both being held. 

The superseding indictment is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police, under the direction of Chief George Gast, and the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Zack. 

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.