Joshua Atkinson, a 27-year-old resident of Ellenville, New York, has been sentenced to 156 months in prison for his involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy. The sentence was announced by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman alongside William S. Walker, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, and Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa.
Atkinson was part of a group of 11 defendants charged in the case. Some co-defendants have already been sentenced, while others await sentencing. Christopher Baez received a 71-month prison sentence followed by five years of supervised release, and Michael Herry was sentenced to 27 months with three years of supervised release. Sentencing dates are scheduled for Joshua Morales on February 19, 2025; Joseph Logan on May 21, 2025; Timothy Hutcherson on April 9, 2025; and Daryl Livingston on April 2, 2025.
As part of his guilty plea, Atkinson admitted to distributing approximately 3.2 kilograms of cocaine and 600 grams of fentanyl during the conspiracy. He also confessed to using violence to secure payments from drug redistributors, including threatening a co-conspirator with a hammer. A search warrant executed at Atkinson's residence in January 2023 led to the recovery of a .22 caliber pistol.
Senior United States District Judge David N. Hurd imposed an additional five-year term of supervised release following Atkinson's prison term.
The investigation into this case is being conducted by multiple agencies including HSI, the Ulster County Sheriff's Office through its URGENT taskforce, the New York State Police, the Village of Ellenville Police Department, and the White Plains Police Department with support from the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashlyn Miranda is prosecuting the case.
This case forms part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation aimed at dismantling high-level drug traffickers and criminal organizations threatening the United States through coordinated efforts across federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
