Philadelphia Man Sentenced for Distributing Heroin to Rochester Drug Dealers

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Jerome Randolph, 33, of Philadelphia, PA, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin, was sentenced to 195 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas E. Gregory, who handled the case, stated that in early 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Rochester Police Department (RPD) conducted a multi‐agency investigation into a significant Philadelphia, PA based heroin trafficking organization distributing heroin to a group of individuals located in Rochester, NY. The investigation included the use of court-approved wiretaps on multiple phones used by the various defendants. The wiretap investigation revealed that Jerome Randolph headed the Philadelphia group, and was responsible for overseeing the trafficking of heroin from Philadelphia to Rochester. The defendant relied principally on two named codefendants, David Haynes and Edwin Rodriguez, who were responsible for the transportation of heroin and drug proceeds between the two cities. Haynes and Rodriguez were convicted and sentenced to 180 and 188 months in prison respectively.

Once the heroin arrived in Rochester, it was distributed by members of the Rochester organization. In addition to the three Philadelphia conspirators, 11 Rochester area individuals were arrested in March 2016.

During the execution of search warrants following the arrests of 14 defendants, law enforcement officers seized 22,713 decks of heroin, $93,399.00 in cash and nine firearms.  The heroin seizures made in this case alone well exceeded the total amount of heroin seizures made in all of 2015 in the City of Rochester. Law enforcement officers estimate the Rochester organization was distributing in excess of $50,000 of heroin per week.

At this time, 11 of the 14 defendants arrested in this case have been convicted. The three remaining defendants, Damon Montgomery, Johnny Balkman and DeShawnra Williams, are scheduled to go to trial in the fall of 2017. 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 investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ashan Benedict, New York Field Division; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Unit, under the direction of Brian Manaher, Director, Marine Operations; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations, under the direction Thomas Brophy, Buffalo Field Office Director; U.S. Border Border Patrol; the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli; the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Sandra Doorley; the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (GRANET); and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in coordination with the Philadelphia ATF and DEA Resident Offices and the Pennsylvania State Police.