BUFFALO, NY-U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. announced today that Erin Cameron, 28, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, 100 grams or more of heroin, and 10 grams or more of fentanyl, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a fine of $5,000,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti, who is handling the case, stated that between July 2018, and Dec. 30, 2018, the defendant conspired with others to sell heroin and fentanyl. During the course of the conspiracy, Cameron supplied another co-conspirator with butyryl fentanyl for future sale.
On Oct. 22, 2018, an individual cooperating with law enforcement set up a controlled purchase of suspected heroin or fentanyl with the defendant. That individual then purchased butyryl fentanyl from an associate of Cameron.
On Dec. 30, 2018, the defendant drove with others from Buffalo to Salamanca, NY to distribute narcotics in and around the Salamanca area. Cameron carried a pistol with six rounds of ammunition, as well as several packages of narcotics including acetyl fentanyl, crack cocaine, and oxycodone. The Salamanca Police stopped the vehicle in which the defendant was a passenger, and recovered the firearm and the controlled substances on Cameron’s person.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, under the direction of Deputy Bureau Director Charles Addington; the Southern Tier Drug Regional Task Force, under the direction of Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Ronald Lott; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division, and the Salamanca Police Department, under the direction of Chief Troy Westfall.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 13, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Sinatra. #
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
