Jamestown Man Pleads Guilty For His Role In Methamphetamine Ring

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Ernest Clayburn Cauley, Jr., 27, of Jamestown, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, and a fine of $5,000,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul C. Parisi, who is handling the case, stated that between March 2017 and November 7, 2017, the defendant conspired with co-defendant Zakiel Fields, and others, to sell methamphetamine in the Jamestown, NY area. Cauley and Fields were the main suppliers of methamphetamine to a drug trafficking organization that was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force (JMDTF).

On April 26, 2017, Cauley met with an individual working with the task force, and exchanged methamphetamine for $120.00 in cash. The defendants were subsequently arrested on November 6, 2017, following a drug transaction during which Cauley and Field received a quantity of methamphetamine. Cauley and Fields, driving in separate cars, were pulled over by police and arrested. Methamphetamine was found in the car in which Fields was riding.

Co-defendant Zakiel Leonard Fields, Jr. was previously convicted and is awaiting sentencing.    

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, and the Jamestown Police Department, under the direction of Chief Harry Snellings.

Cauley is scheduled to be sentenced on July 2, 2019, at 9:30 am before Judge Vilardo.