Letitia James Celebrates ‘Major’ Convictions

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday that her office convicted 14 people for trafficking “major” amounts of fentanyl in the northwestern portion of her state.

According to the release from James’ office, the defendants pleaded guilty and were convicted of selling over $250,000 worth of cocaine and “thousands of fentanyl pills disguised as oxycodone” in Erie and Niagara counties. Prosecutors said that the convicted individuals were “the central figures” of a drug trafficking ring, as some were sentenced to state prison.

“We convicted 14 people for trafficking major amounts of fentanyl in Western New York,” James said in an announcement to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that is taking lives across New York, and we’ll continue to work with [New York State Police] and [the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of New York] to get it off our streets and protect our communities.”

James’ office said that an 18-month investigation of the trafficking ring led to the seizure of around 1,440 counterfeit prescriptions of M30 fentanyl pills and nearly one kilogram of cocaine, which is worth around $130,000 combined. The investigation was carried out in partnership between the Attorney General’s Office, the DEA Buffalo District Office and the New York State Police Violent Gang and Narcotic Enforcement Team.

“This investigation and the convictions against these 14 individuals are evidence of the commitment we share with our law enforcement partners in keeping dangerous drugs off our streets,” New York State Police Superintendent Steven James said in the release. “These individuals had no regard for the impact of their actions on users or the rest of the community.”

The investigation included physical and court-authorized wiretapping of cellphones that led authorities to “the central figure in the trafficking network based in Buffalo, Charles Sims.” According to the release, Sims purchased large quantities of cocaine from his co-defendants, Musa Ramadan, Tevin Jeter, Eric Richmond and others. Sims then reportedly supplied the cocaine to co-defendants Michael McPhee, Devon Jones, Gregory Miller and others, who resold the drug.

Miller, who prosecutors said is now deceased, also obtained a large quantity of fentanyl pills from co-defendant Michael Clark Jr., who then provided the drugs for resale to defendant Anthony Fugate. Tajine Benning, who also pleaded guilty in the case, was a customer of Sims and subjected to a traffic stop that led to the seizure of a loaded .45- caliber pistol.

All 14 defendants in the case were sentenced by Erie County Judge James Bargnesi. The sentences ranged from five years’ probation for lower-level felonies to up to nine years in prison for those found guilty of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A-II felony.

A full list of the defendants and their sentencing can be found here.

Newsweek reached out to James’ office via email for additional comment on Thursday night.