Schuele Boys Gang Associate Pleads Guilty To Drug Charge

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE:  (716) 843-5817
FAX #:                 (716) 551-3051
 
BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that James Hicks, 45, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who is handling the case, stated that as an associate of the Schuele Boys Gang, the defendant purchased cocaine from co-defendant Michael Robertson. Hicks then repackaged the cocaine into smaller amounts for re-sale in the Buffalo area.

The Schuele Boys Gang, which operated in the Schuele Street area of the East Side of Buffalo, is believed to be responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.

Hicks was arrested along with 15 other Schuele Boys Gang members and associates in July 2014. He is the third to be convicted. On March 24, 2015, an additional seven members and associates were indicted.  Four other Schuele Boys members were indicted separately.   Aaron Glenn and Demario Robbins pleaded guilty on March 26 and March 27, 2015 respectively.

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.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force which includes representatives of the Amherst Police Department; the Buffalo Police Department; U.S. Border Patrol, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Cheektowaga Police Department; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department; the Hamburg Police Department; the Lancaster Police Department; the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police; the New York State Department of Correctional Services; the New York State Police; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations. Additional assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the United States Marshal Service, the Lackawanna Police Department, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department.
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