Chautauqua County Man Indicted For Various Narcotics Offenses

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051
 
BUFFALO, N.Y.- U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a 7-count Indictment charging Gary Hannold, II, 42, of Bemus Point, NY, with various drug offenses involving Hannold’s possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and buprenorphine.  The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins, who is handling the case, stated that in the early morning hours on August 11, 2017, the defendant, who riding his motorcycle in the Village of Sherman, was pulled over by Chautauqua County Sheriff's deputies.  As Hannold got off the motorcycle, he removed his helmet, and then took off a camouflage backpack that he was wearing and threw the pack back into the high weeds adjacent to the motorcycle. Inside the backpack, the deputy found a quantity of suspected crystal methamphetamine packaged in several plastic baggies, was well as marijuana, a clear vile containing cocaine, 10 packets of Suboxone, a digital scale, a bag with unused small plastic bags, U.S. currency, two cell phones, a New York State motorcycle license plate, and numerous other items.
The defendant was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. and is being detained.
The 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; and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Joseph Gerace.
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.