Prior Felon Pleads Guilty To Drug And Gun Charges

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

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Francis C. Bynoe, 35, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassie M. Kocher, who is handling the case, stated that on September 29, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Bynoe’s Rochester residence, seizing four firearms, ammunition, quantities of cocaine and a substance containing fentanyl, heroin, and para-fluorofentanyl (a fentanyl analogue), and items commonly used to cook cocaine into cocaine crack. In April 2012, Bynoe was convicted of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and as a result is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.   

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Smith and Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Scarpino.
  
Sentencing is scheduled for April 6, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Geraci.

# # # #