Rochester Man Sentenced on Drug Trafficking Charges

   ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jarrel Johnson, 30, of Rochester, N.Y., who was convicted  of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribution of 280 grams or more of cocaine base, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The defendant was also sentenced to two years in prison to run concurrent to the 20 year sentence for violating an order of supervised release.

                Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who handled the case, stated that on December 17, 2012, members of the United States Probation Office conducted a search of Johnson’s residence at 184 Kingsberry Drive, Apartment A, in Rochester. The defendant was under the supervision of a probation officer following a 2009 federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

                During the search of the apartment, several items of contraband and evidence of narcotics trafficking were found and seized, including a bag with crack cocaine, a digital scale with white residue, two boxes of rubber gloves, numerous small clear plastic bags, and a razor blade with white residue. In addition, law enforcement officers found and seized five clear plastic bags containing crack cocaine in two jackets belonging to Johnson and $4,400 in United States currency in a pair of the defendant’s boots.

                The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team composed of law enforcement personnel in Monroe County, under the direction under the direction of Rochester Police Department Chief Michael Ciminelli, the United States Probation Office, for the Western District of New York, Rochester Office, under the direction of Timothy Englerth and Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Cannon, New York Field Office.