Buffalo Man Convicted By A Jury Of Gun And Drug Charges

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

BUFFALO, N.Y.—Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced that a federal jury this afternoon returned a verdict convicting Gregory Ramos, a/k/a Prospect, 25, of Buffalo, NY, of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a person subject of a domestic violence order of protection. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael P. Felicetta and Laura A. Higgins, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that Ramos is a member of the FEB Gang which has a history of drug trafficking, firearms possession and violent crime. On May 21, 2016, Buffalo Police received a complaint involving a domestic dispute on Fargo Avenue between a woman and the defendant. An investigation determined that Ramos assaulted the woman, causing abrasions and bruising, and threatened her life. At the time of the domestic assault, Buffalo Police were looking for the defendant in connection with a fatal shooting, which occurred at the Anchor Bar Restaurant the previous day.   

The charges contained in the federal indictment primarily involved events occurring on May 23, 2016. On that date, Niagara Falls Police Officers spotted Ramos’ car on Pine Avenue and attempted to stop the vehicle. As officers approached, the defendant sped away. A high-speed chase ensued during which Ramos threw bags of cocaine and a gun from his car window. The cocaine struck the windshield of the officers’ car on Hyde Park Avenue, while the gun struck and shattered the rear window of another driver’s vehicle.            

The chase, which involved multiple Niagara Falls Police vehicles, proceeded onto Grand Island, where a toll collector at the Grand Island Bridge reported that the defendant’s vehicle was traveling approximately 100 miles per hour as it went through the tollbooths. Once on Grand Island, Ramos abandoned his vehicle on Stony Point Road and fled into a wooded area. A few minutes later, the Erie County Sheriff’s Department received a call from an individual who identified himself as Gregory Ramos. The caller claimed his vehicle had been stolen in Niagara Falls by an unknown black male. The defendant Ramos was apprehended a short time later in a wooded area on the Island and taken into custody. At the time, Ramos was in possession of $3,640 in cash.

With Ramos having been convicted in federal court on these drug and gun charges, he remains under indictment on state murder and domestic assault charges involving the Anchor Bar shooting death and the beating of his girlfriend.

The verdict is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda; the Niagara Falls Police Department, under the direction of Chief Bryan DalPorto; and the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard.    
 
Sentencing is scheduled for July 11, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, who presided over the trial.