Two Brothers Sentenced For Operating A Marijuana Ring

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Alexander Green, 33, of San Francisco, CA, and his brother Charles Green, 30, of Long Island City, NY, who were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 50 kilograms or more of marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering, were sentenced to serve 48 months and 27 months respectively in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean C. Eldridge, who handled the case, stated that between January 2010 and March 2014, Alexander Green obtained significant quantities of marijuana from the State of California and was shipping allotments to his brother Charles Green in New York City. Once the marijuana arrived on the East Coast, marijuana was subsequently transported upstate for distribution to customers in the Rochester area. The marijuana was transported either by Charles Green or by several individuals working on his behalf. Both defendants admitted that at least 100 kilograms of marijuana was involved in their drug trafficking enterprise. Charles and Alexander Green set the pricing of the marijuana. Once the marijuana was received in Rochester, it was then distributed to various customers located in the Rochester area.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers seized $221,344 from Alexander Green. Specifically, $1,100 in cash was seized from Alexander Green in March 2011 in Jackson County, Oregon, along with five pounds of marijuana from the car he was driving; $99,914 in cash was seized from a car in which Alexander Green was a passenger in November 2013 in Ukiah, California; and $120,330 in cash was seized from Alexander Green at the San Francisco Airport in January 2014. Those sums of currency, totaling $221,344, were forfeited as marijuana trafficking proceeds, as was $50,000 surrendered by Alexander Green and $50,000 surrendered by $50,000 by Charles Green prior to their sentencings. In total, $321,344 in drug proceeds was forfeited by the defendants.          

The sentencings are the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division.