Rochester Man Pleads Guilty To Fentanyl And Gun Charges

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

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Devonte Mitchell, 21, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $1,000,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassie Kocher, who is handling the case, stated the defendant’s arrest followed a search of his residence by the Monroe County Probation Department. During the search, probation officers recovered a quantity of fentanyl packaged for sale and a loaded firearm. At the time of his arrest, Mitchell was on probation for a Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree conviction. 

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Monroe County Probation Department, under the direction of Chief Probation Officer Larry Mattle, the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Simmons, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ashan Benedict, New York Field Division.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 28, 2018, at 9:15 a.m. before Judge Siragusa.

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