Rochester Man Sentenced on Drug and Firearms Charges

         ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Tabari Facen, 36, of Rochester, N.Y., was sentenced to 41 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer, following the defendant’s convictions by a jury for possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute it and possessing ammunition while being a convicted felon.  Prior to sentencing, Judge Larimer dismissed additional drug and firearms crimes for which the jury had found defendant guilty, after he concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict on those counts. The dismissed counts carried a combined statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

              Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig Gestring and Charles E. Moynihan, who handled the case, stated that Facen was arrested after members of the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team executed a narcotics search warrant at 303 Lakeview Park on September 26, 2011. Upon entering the location, officers encountered and arrested the defendant in a bedroom on the second floor of the apartment.

         In searching the apartment, law enforcement officers located and seized a small quantity of crack cocaine which was packaged for street level sale. Officers also located paraphernalia associated with drug trafficking, including glassine ziplock bags. In addition to these items, law enforcement officers located and seized a box of ammunition, which was in plain view in the same room in which officers found Facen.

            The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, under the direction of Lieutenant Gerald Smith, Special Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell, New York Field Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge Scott Heagney, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief James M. Sheppard.