Buffalo Man Charged With Selling Crack Cocaine Near Senior Housing In Lackawanna

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

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Nafese J. Sanford, 26, of Buffalo, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, crack cocaine. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the Lackawanna Police Narcotics Unit has been investigating the narcotics trafficking activities of the defendant since June 2018. The investigation determined that Sanford is a street-level crack cocaine distributor with a large customer base in the Buffalo area who operated around the Parkview Towers, a federally funded senior housing unit on Ridge Road in Lackawanna.

Between July 13, 2018, and August 22, 2018, the Lackawanna Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration made three undercover purchases of crack cocaine from the defendant.

The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder and is being detained.

The complaint is the culmination of an investigation by the Lackawanna Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Michel, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division. 

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.