Suspected Gang Member Sentenced On Gun Charge

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

BUFFALO, N.Y.-Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Darmetrius Braggs, 19, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking activity, was sentenced to 60 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan T. Cullinane, who handled the case, stated that Buffalo Police Department officers received information that the defendant robbed an individual at gun point on October 30, 2015.  During the investigation, officers learned that Braggs would be at a party on Freund Avenue in Buffalo on November 7, 2015.

On November 7, 2015, undercover officers contacted Braggs by cellular telephone and arranged an undercover purchase of marijuana. The defendant told the officers to meet him near Genesee Street and Freund Avenue in Buffalo to purchase the marijuana.  As officers arrived at the location, Braggs fled on foot and entered 22 Freund Avenue, where officers located the defendant.  Officers also found a cellular telephone and multiple vials of what appeared to be marijuana near the residence’s rear entrance.  In addition, officers recovered a loaded firearm in the back yard of 22 Freund Avenue.

The firearm recovered by officers resembles a firearm the defendant posed with multiple times on social media websites.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in- Charge Ashan Benedict, New York Field Division.