Rochester, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Charles Fitzgerald, 39, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $771,109 by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Noto, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant admitted that on July 25, 2012, he possessed with intent to distribute various synthetic controlled substances and synthetic controlled substance analogues at both his residence in Rochester and at one of the stores that he owned, the 420 Emporium located in Batavia, NY. As part of the plea agreement, Fitzgerald will forfeit $771,109 in United States currency that was seized during the execution of a search warrant at his residence at 221 West Hills Estates on July 25, 2012.
Co-defendant Amber Snover was also convicted and will be sentenced on June 23, 2015. Three employees of Fitzgerald’s, who worked at the 420 Emporium stores located in Batavia and Henrietta, NY, have also been convicted in this case and are awaiting sentencing.
Today’s sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, and the New York State Police Community Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET), under the direction of Major David Krause.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
