Buffalo Man Convicted By A Jury Of Cocaine Charge

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
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FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that that a federal jury has convicted Derek McQuiller, 42, of Buffalo, NY, of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $2,000,000, or both.

  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward H. White and Stephanie O. Lamarque, who handled the prosecution of the case at trial, stated that during a traffic stop on April 22, 2015, the defendant threw a plastic bag out of the passenger window. The bag was recovered and found to contain 10 individually wrapped baggies of cocaine. McQuiller threw another plastic bag out of the driver’s side window. That bag was recovered and found to contain marijuana. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, another baggie of cocaine was discovered under the passenger floor mat. 
  The defendant was transported to the Town of Tonawanda Police Station and three additional baggies of cocaine were found later that night under the bench where McQuiller had been booked. The defendant also was alleged to have given a baggie of cocaine to a female acquaintance earlier that night in a motel room. 
  McQuiller has five prior state and federal convictions, all for drug trafficking offenses.
Today’s verdict 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 Town of Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jerome C. Uschold III, and the Kenmore Police Department, under the direction of Chief Peter Breitnauer.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 2, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo who presided over the trial.