BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Dijaon Bland, 25, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute crack cocaine, was sentenced to 70 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas S. Duszkiewicz, Bland was a member of L.R.G.P., a violent street gang named after the East Side streets of Lombard, Rother, Gibson and Playter. The defendant sold crack cocaine from a “trap house" on Memorial Drive in Buffalo utilized by gang members. The house was run by Bland’s cousin and L.R.G.P. leader Dewayne Gray.
Bland is one of 19 L.R.G.P. members and associates indicted in this case. The defendant is the fifth to be convicted. On May 8, 2015, another 11 L.R.G.P. members and associates were also indicted on crack cocaine charges. 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 indictment is the culmination of an investigation by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force which included the Amherst Police Department; Buffalo Police Department; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Cheektowaga Police Department; Erie County Sheriff’s Office; Hamburg Police Department; Lancaster Police Department; Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority; New York State Department of Correctional Services; New York State Police; U.S. Border Patrol; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations.
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.
